


While She Slept | Dreamcatcher

by Freyafx2



Category: Dreamcatcher (Korea Band)
Genre: Angst, Dreams, Friendship, Gen, Nightmares, Teenagers, kpop
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-15
Updated: 2020-03-08
Packaged: 2020-10-19 03:30:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 24
Words: 35,144
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20650478
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Freyafx2/pseuds/Freyafx2
Summary: Gahyeon begins to have dark and twisted dreams that don't make sense at first. The only constant element is that her friends always die in them.Will these dreams come to life and ruin their friendship? Or will Gahyeon be able to prevent them from ever occurring?Dreamcatcher AU





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hi. This is my first fanfic on this site, but it should be noted that this story is a repost from Wattpad. My username there is Freyafx and is a story created by me.  
This is also the first ever fanfiction I have created, though the original has gone through many redrafts.

The night sky shines with a dull navy blue that cloaks the city below it in shimmering darkness. Stars like pinpricks glimmer through the sky like strings of neon lights.

JiU looks up at the stars through the cafe window in childish delight. "Hey, look! Can you see the shooting star?" She asks the younger girl opposite her, who was sucking the straw of her slushie.

She looks up, buts misses seeing the shooting star. "Make a wish." Gahyeon grins back at JiU, who nods and closes her eyes with a serious face before mouthing something. "What did you wish for?"

"I'll tell you if it comes true." JiU teases and laughs at her face. She drinks the rest of her hot chocolate.

"Hey!" Gahyeon laughs in reply and sucks the residue of her long-liquefied slushie. She looks up at JiU a moment later. "Since we've both finished our drinks...can we go to the karaoke?" She whines playfully and starts to do puppy eyes.

"Hold up. Stop. Don't do those eyes." JiU laughs again and wipes her mouth free of chocolate. "Of course we'll go."

***

JiU and Gahyeon wait patiently at the zebra crossing as several cars whip across in multi-coloured blurs that look oddly pretty.

"The road's clear, Gahyeon." JiU takes her hand and steps out into the road across the crossing despite Gahyeon's protestations that they should wait a little longer.

"JiU, there's cars coming! Let's wait a little."

"They can't run us over." JiU ignores her. "You'll thank me when we get more time at the karaoke room."

Yet Gahyeon can't shake the feeling that something bad was going to happen. It's a sick feeling in her gut that spreads like a virus to the tips of her fingers and toes with a heavy tingle.

"Come on, JiU!" They are in the centre of the road now. Was there a car coming? Yes, she sees a dark car, but its headlights are not on. "There's a car!"

"So hurry up and don't be dead weight." She speeds up.

The car's engine roars menacingly and its black sheen scares Gahyeon as it speeds towards them, only visible when it passes under each streetlight, so that it seems to flicker, disappearing like a ghost.

"JiU--"

"Just run!" JiU's hand tightens over hers and at this, Gahyeon willingly runs alongside her.

They are now both well out of the car's direct path, but the danger sense doesn't leave Gahyeon at all.

Against any driving law, the car swerves like a hawk for the two of them.

Gahyeon turns and looks back at the car straight into the silver grille that seems to be what will end her life. A scream squeezes past her constricted throat as the car turns a little more and hits JiU next to her.

Like a stiff rag-doll, she was flung backward over the car's windscreen past Gahyeon as the car continues without stopping onto the next lane, as if the person driving hadn't just run over someone.

Gahyeon screeches JiU's name and runs to her pitiful form, who is already covered in blood from multiple lacerations over her body.

There was so much blood, too much of it for her to possibly live after losing so much.

"JiU! JiU..." She pulls the hair away from JiU's face with a shaking hand to reveal her closed eyes and deathly pale face. "Can you hear me? JiU, speak to me, please!" Gahyeon begs as she sobs hard.

A car stops beside her and a man and woman jump out, slamming their doors. They rush over.

"Are you okay, miss?" The man asks as his eyes travel down to JiU. "Oh my..."

"M-my friend--" Gahyeon buries her head in her hands as the man calls for an ambulance as the woman puts her jacket around her shoulders with warm hands.

JiU still doesn't move, nor does she make a sound.

***

Gahyeon pinched herself awake as she felt the tears that streamed down her face and neck. "JiU..." Her face contorted in sadness and a gasp escaped her mouth, mixed with a snot-filled sob.

"What's wrong, Gahyeon?" Dami's bed creaked and she sat beside the distraught girl on the bed as Gahyeon threw herself into her receiving arms. "I dreamt--" She wailed, not able to complete her sentence.


	2. Chapter 2

"How are you feeling now?" Dami asked as she sat down opposite Gahyeon to eat breakfast.

Only Gahyeon's swollen eyes and miserable expression told of her sleepless night where Dami had stayed up with her.

Gahyeon hadn't wanted to go back to sleep after the dream, or ever, when she thought about it. She still couldn't believe how real the dream had been - No other dream of hers had felt so realistic and violent, normally being abstract and mystifying, but this dream was shockingly simple.

Tears pricked at her eyes again, but she blinked them away quickly to prevent herself from crying again.

Just a dream.

That's what she told herself. It was just a dream.

***

"Gahyeon!" Her friend, Yoohyeon greeted her with a bright smile as she entered the classroom.

As Gahyeon sat down next to her at the back of the classroom with a barely audible greeting, her face fell. "Hold on, have you been crying?"

"Yeah...is it obvious?" Gahyeon takes out her compact mirror and pokes at her eye bags.

Yoohyeon took the mirror from her. "Yup, it is. But, it doesn't matter, no one's going to stare at you." She reassured the girl. "But seriously, what made you cry?"

"I just had...a bad dream." Gahyeon shrugged. "JiU died."

"Oh, really?" Yoohyeon frowned. "Sounds bad."

"But it was really realistic. The personality of JiU, the car hitting her, the blood--" Thinking of the dream made her feel sick now more than upset. "And her death."

"Realistic?" Yoohyeon repeated. "That's not a good sign. Do you think it could really happ--"

"Don't say it!" She glared back at her seriously.

"Fine, I won't." She replied and looked back at her desk.

"Thanks." As she finished speaking, the scrape of chairs around the room alerted her that the teacher had entered the room. Reluctantly, she stood with everyone before she slumped back down onto her seat and leaned her head on her arm tiredly.

"Not much sleep then?" Yoohyeon whispered as the teacher started to write on the newspaper.

She nodded her head and allowed her heavy eyelids to close.

***

"Could the group 'Dreamcatcher' be on stand-by now?" A member of the college staff calls into the dressing room.

They all stand smoothly and adjust their black outfits.

"Yes!" They call together and file out of the room in their matching outfits. There are only six of them.

***

"Chase me, catch me if you can, it was really close!" SuA covers Yoohyeon's lines as spectators watch on at their performance.

"But I already left there." She continues in a clear voice and continues to her next position.

Siyeon then starts to sing. "Chase me, yes find me, no one can stop me.

Gahyeon eyes SuA as they dance. Another feeling begins to take over her gut. Not again, she groans internally, but continues to dance. Her foot catches on a loose part of the stage, and alarmingly, the stage tile drops a little.

SuA moves to where Gahyeon was just stood, straight onto the loose floor tile. "SuA--"

The tile drops and so does SuA.

She yells her name, her voice amplified by the mic taped to her cheek. The other girls turn and the music stops after everyone realises that something serious has happened.

"SuA?" Handong crouches beside the gap in the stage to peer into the gloom. Staff members rush onto stage and crouch next to them.

"Miss SuA?" One of them lowers herself carefully into the hole and disappears into the greedy gloom. They turn on their torch and the strong beam reveals SuA crumpled in a heap on top of the fallen floor tile.

Siyeon looks away quickly with immediate tears running down her cheeks as did Gahyeon, while the others look shocked and concerned.

"The trap door tile wasn't operating properly." A staff member curses.

"Is she...okay?" Handong stutters, her Korean more halted than usual.

"We've called an ambulance. Could you girls please exit the stage?"

"But..." Handong starts to protest but Dami links an arm with her silently and leads her offstage in the sombre wake of Siyeon, Gahyeon and JiU. "I don't think she needs an ambulance."


	3. Chapter 3

Gahyeon's eyes snapped open and numbly focused on Yoohyeon's slender hands. Her breaths came fast and she kept them mostly quiet so that only Yoohyeon could hear.

"Did you have a bad dream?" Yoohyeon murmured under her breath as her eyes flicked sideways momentarily to look down at her face.

"Ye-yeah..." She mumbled, afraid to say anymore in case she cried.

"Did someone die?"

"SuA did." She sat up slowly and opened her textbook slowly with a dazed expression.

"Tell me and the others at lunch. The teacher's looking at you suspiciously. Page twenty-five."

"Thanks." What was wrong with her and what was with all these dreams? She stared uncomprehendingly at page twenty-five as she blinked away hot tears.

***

At lunch, she was determined to tell her friends about her dreams and how worried she was about them, to make them understand. They terrified her in a new way to normal nightmares. With normal nightmares, she only felt momentarily terrified, pushing them out of her mind as she got ready for school, forgetting them by the time she went to sleep again that night.

"You can just tell us straight up, Gahyeon, about what got you scared." Yoohyeon smiled and so do Handong and Dami.

Gahyeon poked at her food while her teeth bit the inside of her lip. "I've had t-two dreams. And they've been really, really realistic. JiU died in the first and SuA died in the second."

"Age order. Maybe that's significant. What exactly happened to them?"

"In both, well, they di--" she swallowed. "--ed. JiU was run over and the stage collapsed under SuA." She looked tearfully up at her friends, internally begging them to take her seriously.

"Sounds like you just got a bit freaked out because they were realistic." Dami shrugged. "I don't believe the future can be told in dreams, so just take it with a pinch of salt."

"Dami's right. Nothing can come of dreams, they're only our brain's creativity." Yoohyeon patted Gahyeon's hand. "If you're really worried, I'll walk JiU home from her university tonight and make her sleep the night. The college festival also isn't for at least three weeks, so SuA will be fine."

Gahyeon smiled, but it was without feeling. They hadn't really solved the problem already starting to eat away at her.

What if they came true?

***

That night, she was deeply afraid to sleep. She wondered if dreams of death would plague her again that night once more. She was more than willing to go without sleep, but that could only last for so long.

"Dami?" Gahyeon asked in a cautious tone as she buttons up her pyjamas.

"Yeah?" A terse answer.

"Can I use some of your sleeping medicine?"

Dami spun sharply to look at her. "Are you trying to stop yourself having dreams?"

"...Yes."

"No, then. My medicine is for sleepwalking, not 'stopping dreams'. If you want sleeping medicine, then I'll buy you some tomorrow. Okay?"

"Fine." Gahyeon pouted and slipped into bed.

Dami continued to watch her, a look of concern on her face that she hadn't seen in a while. "Sleep tight." She eventually says.

***

Siyeon's face and dark blue hair came into focus. In her hand was a phone and she takes a selfie with a sat-down dozing Dami.

She grins at SuA impishly and takes another picture before Dami lifts her head and stares uncomprehendingly at Siyeon's phone screen. After looking up for a few moments, her head drops back on her chest and she resumes sleeping with gentle breaths.

Siyeon sniggers and begins to upload the picture to SNS. "Take," She says aloud the words she types. "A look at my cutie cutie friend @LYBDami as she sleeps. Hashtag bestie, hashtag secret selfie, hashtag--"

SuA snorts loudly and wakes Dami again, who mumbles. "Go and wash soon, Siyeon, so we can all go out soon..."

"Okay, okay." Siyeon grins and shares a glance with SuA. "I'll go in the bath now." With a wink at SuA, who returns it with equal enthusiasm, she leaves the room.

SuA puts her earphones in, crosses her arms and like Dami, soon falls asleep.

***

Dami opens her eyes with a wince and immediately looks at her watch. "Eight-thirty already? Hey, SuA." Dami blinks a few times to clear her sleepiness as she walks to SuA and pulls her earphones out.

"Do you mind?" She immediately starts to snap. "I was listening to a perfectly good song!"

"It's been forty-five minutes already. And Siyeon hasn't come back yet."

"What?" SuA's eyes fully open and widen. "She couldn't have fallen asleep or perhaps fallen in the bath and--"

"Of course not." Dami rejects the idea swiftly. "But we should still check up on her. It's not like we haven't seen anything before."

SuA smiles at that, but it quickly disappears as worry caresses her thoughts and she runs out of the room after Dami.

"Siyeon?" SuA knocks on the bathroom door loudly. "Are you still in there?"

"I'll check her bedroom." Dami walks into the room next to the bathroom and returns quickly. "She must still be in there, 'cause she's not in her bedroom. Is it locked?"

SuA twists the handle and pushes the door open. It swings in widely to reveal the muggy bathroom.

Dami doesn't immediately see Siyeon through the thick steam, but then she sees a dark blue semi-circle of colour above the surface of the water and rushes forward across the slippery bathroom tiles. SuA does the same.

"Siyeon!" She cries out.

Only the top of Siyeon's head was visible above the waterline and the water was tinged a light pink that made both of their faces cringe and their hearts drop.

Dami curses and reaches straight into the water to hook her hands under Siyeon's armpits and lifts her so that she partially comes out of the water. "SuA, help me lift her out!"

"Y-yes!" SuA reaches in too, and takes Siyeon's legs while Dami gingerly lifts her out of the tub and they lower her to the floor together.

"Call an ambulance." Dami demands in a calm tone, which SuA does immediately as she leaves the room in a rush.

Dami looks down Siyeon's body from her chest to her head to check for breathing - There is no rise on her chest, no air coming out of her nose.

"Starting CPR." She mutters and starts to do rescue breaths before beginning resuscitation, yet knowing that any attempt was futile.


	4. Chapter 4

"Dami..." Gahyeon croaked before her eyes had fully opened.

"Uh?" Dami sat up slowly in her bed and turned on her bedside lamp. "What's wrong? Another dream?"

"Siyeon died." Gahyeon's throat constricted. "And you couldn't save her."

"What? You had another dream?" Dami leans back on her elbows and sighs. "Why are these suddenly happening?

"I don't know!" Gahyeon cried. "I just want them to stop!" Small tears forced themselves out of her eyes. Had she got used to the dreams enough that she couldn't cry now?

What was happening?

***

"No way, I died?" Siyeon's voice laughed through the phone with a mix of static. "You sure have odd dreams, Gahyeon. Perhaps tonight, you should dream something positive. Perhaps, we, 'Dreamcatcher', will win the college festival for our dancing and singing, f(x) has a comeback or SuA dates me." The others laughed around Gahyeon. "See you all later!" Handong hangs up.

"Can't you all take this seriously?" Gahyeon pleaded. "These dreams feel real."

"Some of my dreams feel real too." Handong spoke up. "You know, running across the road in slow motion as a car barrels down on you or being with friends."

"But--" Gahyeon set her chopsticks down loudly.

"Calm down, Gahyeon." Dami turned her stern voice on and glared at her. "I don't want to hear anymore about your dreams."

"But what if I have another one? They plague me whenever I sleep!"

"Try not to think about them, just think of them as, well, a natural part of life. We all have recurring nightmares sometimes that affect us for a bit and then we forget them and everything is fine again. Right?" Yoohyeon looked at the others for confirmation. They all nodded apart from Gahyeon, who simply looked down at her lap.

"Yes." She croaked and stood suddenly. "I'm not hungry anymore. See you in lesson."

Despite their protestations and the stares she received from neighbouring tables, Gahyeon speed-walked out of the lunch hall and into the much quieter corridor. She was hungry, but couldn't stand a moment longer in that hall any longer.

Her dreams were real, she was sure of that for an unknown reason that made sense only to her. And yet, their confident words made her doubt herself and her sanity. Had she just imagined the realism of them, when in reality they could just be meaningless nightmares?

Her feet took her to the nearest bathroom and into the end cubicle. She sat on the toilet lid in a wave of self-pity and wept silently, only her shaking shoulders and faint gasps telling her tears.

In that rash moment, she decided to skip lesson. Gahyeon couldn't even work up the energy to return to the suffocating lesson and her friends. No, she really didn't want to go quite yer.

The bell soon rang for next lesson, but Gahyeon didn't leave the cubicle, inside staying sat firmly on the seat.

Every time she began to nod off, she pinched herself awake, so that by the time about half an hour had passed, her arm was covered in angry red marks.

The sound of the room's door opening made her freeze before she quickly lifted her legs up off of the floor so that it would look as if no one was there.

Multiple pairs of footsteps walked into the bathroom.

"Hey, Yebin, why is Mr Han so against make-up now? I can't believe he's actually making me take it off. What did you get sent out of your lesson for, Yebin?"

The familiar complaining tone froze Gahyeon completely so that her breaths were only shallow, barely audible ones. The girl speaking was, Jihyun, one of the meaner girls of her year and she had no wish to run into her, especially not right now.

Certain memories were triggered by that voice, and they weren't exactly the nicest.

"Hey look at that weakling!" Jihyun laughs to Yebin as Gahyeon walks around the corner and into their sight line.

Gahyeon kept her head down as the two of them continued to catcall.

"Have a taste of this, smartass." Jihyun kicks out her leg into Gahyeon's ribs so that she stumbles sideways. Gahyeon winces and makes a small sound, causing them to laugh happily. "Did that hurt?"

Their laughter follows her as she continues walking, her face red with embarrassment.

"Swearing at Miss Min. I told her to stick it after she got mad at me. You can't imagine she was very pleased."

Through suppressed breaths, she sighed and begged them to leave quickly without noticing that the lock was red, not green as all the others were.

"I need a wee, wait for me." Yebin barged into a cubicle several down from her.

"Yebin, do you think that cubicle's out of order?"

"Why're you talking to me while I'm peeing?"

"Alright, alright." Jihyun laughed and her footsteps walked closer to Gahyeon. She sees her feet under the door. "Doesn't look to be anyone inside."

"Why are you so curious about an out-of-order toilet?" Yebin asked her.

"Because Gahyeon is missing from my lesson."

The toilet flushes. "The smart student, skipping a lesson?" She snorts.

"Didn't know you had it in you." Jihyun laughed and rapped on the door that Gahyeon was hidden behind. "Fucking answer me."

"Go away." Gahyeon said loudly, wondering if it was a mistake.

"Why? You worried I'll beat you up? Make you bleed?"

"No."

Her door rattled as Jihyun's foot slapped into it. "Come on, tell the truth, Gahyeon."

"I am telling the truth. Just go away." Gahyeon cowers further back.

The door rattled again, but this time the lock turns slowly, and the door opens inward ominously to reveal Jihyun and Yebin.

"You know the school locks are crappy and easy to unlock, or did your smart mind forget?"

"Leave me alone." Gahyeon frowns.

"Can't do that." Jihyun grinned. "It's my nature to be nasty, and I like it." She starts to click her knuckles and stepped forward as Yebin smirked in anticipation.

"I said go away!" Gahyeon said much more loudly as she lunged forward, her fist swinging for Gahyeon at a rapid speed. She raised her arms to protect herself.

But her fist connected strongly with Gahyeon's temple and she collapsed sideways, the fist feeling like a sledgehammer penetrating her brain. Her body collapsed beneath her and her eyes closed.


	5. Chapter 5

"Is Miss Dami in here?" The head of student services popped her head around the door into the silently working Maths class.

Dami looked up with bemused eyes at the woman. "I'm here."

"Excuse me, Mr Han. Could I borrow Miss Dami for a few minutes?" She asked in a neutral tone that always irrationally incited fear.

"Of course, Miss Kang."

Dami looked back at Yoohyeon and the empty desk beside her. The desk that was Gahyeon's.

A flame of fury ignited inside of her - If anyone had messed with Gahyeon, they were dead!

She followed the woman out of the room, closed the door and waited for the staff member to speak.

"I'm afraid that your sister..."

The flame inside of her exploded into an inferno.

"Has been involved in an incident with another student and she's currently in the nurse's office."

"What did they do?" She demanded with glaring eyes.

"Er..." She seemed momentarily thrown by her outburst and blinked rapidly. "We're not exactly sure what happened, but we know from the CCTV outside of the bathroom that Jihyun and Yebin from your year were the only ones who entered after her."

Dami cursed aloud.

"Miss Dami!" The staff member regained their composure with a snap and frowned. "I'll excuse your behaviour just this once--"

"May I see her?" Dami inhaled deeply.

"We've already called her emergency contact due to your parents being abroad. So no."

"But--"

"Miss Dami, I can just as easily make the detention for your swearing valid. Your sister is in safe hands, so please return to lesson."

Dami's nostrils flared, but she nodded and turned back to the door, tension visible in her straight back and opened the door back into the silence of scribbling pens.

Yoohyeon looked up as the door opened and met eyes with Dami.

Dami mentally pushed the worry out of her eyes and returns to her seat, sitting down stiffly.

Her eyes looked down at her kendo bokken and she mentally formed a plan to get back at the people who had hurt her sister. They were going to pay.

***

As soon as the lesson finished, Dami grabbed her bag and rushed out of the classroom, running right into her friends waiting outside.

"Hey, Dami--" Handong greeted enthusiastically.

"Have you seen Jihyun or Yebin?" Dami demanded urgently.

"Hmm?" Yoohyeon exclaimed. "What do you want to find them for?"

"It's about Gahyeon."

"What about Gahyeon?" Yoohyeon asked jokingly. "Is she annoyed at us and enlisted Jihyun to beat us up?"

"No. Those two bitches hurt Gahyeon! Have you seen them?"

"They hurt Gahyeon?" Handong's face straightened along with Yoohyeon's.

"Have you seen them?"

"Yeah. They were in my class." Handong said. "I think they went outside to smoke in their usual spot."

"Thanks. I'll see you guys later." Dami hoisted her bokken case onto her shoulder and walked off down the corridor as if on a mission and ignored their bemused calls after her.

***

Before she'd even rounded the corner of the back of the science block, Dami heard Jihyun's all-too-familiar voice that was complaining; as she always seems to be. She breathed out heavily, and Dami could already smell a light scent of cigarette smoke.

Dami took a breath, steadied her expression and dropped her school bag before stormed around the corner towards the two girls. "Hey, Jihyun!" She yelled.

Jihyun looked up and smiled. She ground her cigarette under her heel and faced her. "Oh. Hey, Dami."

"What did you do to Gahyeon?" Dami demanded, one hand on her bokken bag strap.

"Oh, come on!" She pouted in response. "I've already been asked that question too many times by members of staff. Do you know how tiring that question gets? What did you do to Miss Yena? What did you do to Miss Gahyeon? What did you do to Miss Dami?"

Dami flinched. "That's not what I'm asking right now.

Yebin linked an arm with Jihyun. "I'll tell you what we did, Dami. We beat her up. It wasn't even that bad, but she started blubbering--"

"Shut up!" Dami yelled and slung her bokken case to the ground.

"What's wrong, Dami? Remember your own five-star experience with us?" Jihyun asked mockingly.

\--

"Let me go! I'll tell my mum on you!" A much younger Dami screams as Jihyun and Yebin drag her through the corridors of older students.

Why didn't they care, or look around? Shouldn't they be trying to help her?

"Your mum can't do anything here, Dami." Yebin laughs but covers Dami's mouth with her free hand, muffling her voice.

"Let's take her to the P.E lockers!" Jihyun squeals in childish delight.

They pull Dami down the corridor into the P.E locker room and Jihyun rummages through her bag, finding Dami's locker key.

"Got it." She passes it to Yebin, who opens a red locker beside her.

"Ooh, spacious. Let's get her in there." Yebin grins and turns to the wide-eyed Dami, who opens her mouth to scream.

Her hand thrusts over Dami's mouth and Jihyun wraps her arms around Dami's body to stop her wriggling. They shove her into her locker, already half-full with her smelly P.E clothes and slam the door with a hollow clang.

She screams loudly and bangs on the door to no effect as the lights turn off and the door slams again. The room is silent and only broken by her heavy claustrophobic breathing. Dami begins to weep pitifully. "No one's going to come and help me, no one cares about me..."

Her heart rate escalates as the inescapable feeling of claustrophobia increases tenfold and the rate of her shallow breaths increase. The light-headedness gets to her quickly and she falls forward onto the door, her vision fading.

***

With a rusty creak, the locker door opens to reveal an older female student. She drops the hairpin she used to pick the flimsy lock and holds Dami's shoulders to support her to the floor.

As if sensing the rush of fresh air, Dami stirs in confusion before her eyes gush fear at seeing the unfamiliar girl.

"Who are you?" She croaks, already sensing that they're aren't with the two girls.

"Are those two girls who left the locker room not too long ago the ones who put you in here?" She asks kindly.

"Y-yeah." Dami sits up, trust already instilled in the girl who held her.

"Don't worry, I'll get them back for you! I promise." She holds out her little finger and Dami silently obliges with hers. "My name's SuA. I'll look after you from now on."

\--

"Of course I remember." Dami's hand fumbled for the release strap on her bokken bag.

Yebin seemed to be the only one of the two to notice what Dami was doing. "Jihyun..."

"It's gonna be so easy to continue to torment your sister." Jihyun ignored Yebin.

"I realise that." She unclipped the flap of the bag and reached inside to grip the handle of the bokken.

"Jihyun." Yebin snapped in a more authoritative tone.

"What?" She turned to face her and that's when Dami took her chance.

With a single pull, the bokken came out of the bag into her practised two-handed grip. Without really knowing what she was going to do, Dami sprinted towards them.

Jihyun shouted something incoherent and shoved Yebin away before she sprinted around the far corner.

Yebin stood frozen as Dami bore down on. Jihyun was obviously her target, but both of them should bear her wrath.

With a grunt, she swung the bokken into her ribs and Yebin fell to the ground.

Dami smiled involuntarily as a rush of adrenaline ran through her that was mixed with anger like an explosive compound and followed after Jihyun around the corner.

She sprinted faster, her legs pounding along the ground after the fleeing girl as they came into sight of the school gates. And the students who were all going to witnesses.

"Jihyun!" She yelled triumphantly.

Jihyun screamed again and slowed down a notch as she panicked on which direction to go, but Dami had already caught up with her.

She caught Jihyun by her hair and yanked her back onto the ground, abandoning the bokken. Jihyun twisted on the ground to bring Dami down with her.

"Dami!" JiU, Siyeon, Handong and Yoohyeon ran towards them.

Dami went down with a thud and a scrabble of fists as they pounded each other for what they were worth. A fist to the jaw, a rake of fake nails, a snap of the fake nails, thick red liquid.

"That's for hurting my sister!"

"Get her off her!" Someone yelled that sounded like JiU.

"Who off who? They're like animals!"

Dami rolled on top and her wrist was grabbed by someone, yanking her off Jihyun. Other hands clasped around her waist.

"Let go of me." She growled, still in fighting mode.

Siyeon's face appeared in front of her. "Calm down, please, Dami. You've done enough harm already."

"Fine." The pain now came in throbs - Her ribs, her neck, her jaw. "At least I got her back."

"And you hurt her." Siyeon hugged her with a worried face, noticing the staff member coming towards them. "You're going to be in so much trouble for this..."

***

After a rather furious telling off and being given a month's worth of lunch-time detentions, Dami ended up in the nurse's office, sat on a bed while she was prodded and poked by the impatient nurse. Siyeon sat beside her and behind, Jihyun was being attended to by the assistant nurse.

"You're lucky, Miss Lee. Missy-over-there only scratched your neck on the surface." She complained in a harsh voice. "You're free to leave whenever. Don't stay too long, someone in Art is bound to be here soon enough. Some of those students can't be trusted with sharp things." She talked to herself more than Dami.

"Thank you." A thought came to her. "How's my sister. She was here, wasn't she?"

"Would that be the other Miss Lee? Gahyeon?" She raised her eyebrows in question and Dami nodded. "She had minor concussion. Her emergency contact took her home about ten minutes ago."

"That was SuA." Siyeon informed Dami.

It was like her heart lightened, and yet she still felt just a teensy bit guilty as she thanked the nurse and sneaked a sly peek at Jihyun on the furthest bed away.

She'd done that? It was like her own injuries, but several times worse.

"Don't smile." Siyeon warned as the nurse moved away and pulled a partition across. "If you start another fight, I won't be happy."

Dami pulled her lips back into a grin. "You can't touch me." She moved a little away from Siyeon, whose eyes were smouldering.

She grunted and glared momentarily before she smiled slightly. "She won't be bothering Gahyeon again if that's the effect you were going for. I guess you're feeling sore?"

"Course I do. My eye hurts, I have nail marks everywhere and...blergh. A list of injuries." Dami pouted and picked at the bandages over her bruised and bloody fists. "Hey, do you have my bokken and school bag? They're kinda expensive."

"Um, I think so. One of the others probably picked it up. The rest are already waiting for us outside and SuA's with Gahyeon at your place. We need to see if Gahyeon is feeling well enough for the outing tonight to Han River.

"Can we go now then?"

"If you're feeling well enough, then let's go."


	6. Chapter 6

Handong walks into her Chemistry classroom, first checking to see if anyone else was in the room. Once seeing that no one was in the room, she walks to her usual seat and sets her bag and ring binder down.

In the room's fume cupboard, she sees a chlorine gas practical set up.

"Concentrated hydrochloric acid." She muses and walks over to it. "And potassium manganate. Equals chlorine gas." Handong tests the complicated pronunciation on her tongue a few times before smiling at her success.

"Ah, Miss Handong! You're early again today." A jolly voice enters the room and belongs to her Chemistry teacher.

"Good afternoon." She greets politely.

"Are you ready for our practical today?"

"The chlorine gas practical? Yes, I studied up on it last night." She smiles again.

That makes him beam wider and his eyes crinkle. "You're ready to start off then." He gestured to the practical. "Did you look at the safety aspects as well?"

"Yes!" She replies with enthusiasm. "But, I should be doing this practical with a partner--"

"Then you're ready to do it! I trust you to be safe." He laughs. "Remember to write down your observations. "I'll go and round up the other students now and make some coffee for us all after everyone's done the practical." He bustles back out of the lab in the same harried fashion he entered with and closes the door.

Handong is alone again, but prepares to complete the practical. She goes to the pockets of safety goggles on the wall, succeeding in knocking a few out by accident.

***

Having completed the practical with minimal inhalation of the toxic gas, Handong stretched out and felt a sense of accomplishment.

She decides to to reset the practical so that the other students could do the practical much quicker.

Handong walks to the trolley holding all the equipment for the practical, finding both the potassium manganate and hydrochloric next to it, both clearly labelled with various red and white warnings.

When reaching for the small bin to put the clumps of used manganate in, her hand sweeps both of the large bottles to the ground in a resounding shatter of glass.

Handong curses loudly, her hand frozen in its reach for the bin before she peers over to see the damage.

The potassium manganate has landed on top of the puddle of hydrochloric acid. And they react to make chlorine gas.

"Oh no." She realises and stumbles away as she starts to cough, her nostrils burning. "How much have I already breathed in?"

The chlorine gas produced, is deadly if inhaled in large amounts, Handong remembers, as well as the fact that she had taken plenty of normal breaths in the time it took for her to notice them reacting.

Another few coughs follow closely and this time, her lungs start to burn as her head throbs painfully.

She doesn't want to put other people in danger by opening the classroom door, so she runs to the windows, coughing all the way. But when she does, she finds that the windows can only open so far, a few inches.

Another curse and hacking coughs. The fresh air coming in isn't enough and she stumbles to her knees, her head spinning and her lungs burning. She faintly recalls that her lungs burning means that they're dissolving, or something similar. "Oh no..." She wheezes and goes to take a breath, but can't quite take a full breath.

Handong panics and her face turns pink with the effort of trying to draw in a full breath.

She sneezes drily and nose twinges in constant pain when a wave a nausea and light-headness overwhelms her and her rolls back in her head as her body settles forward on the floor.

\--

Gahyeon opened her eyes slowly and found herself in one of the beds in the nurse's office. Her head throbbed as she moved, so she reluctantly moved as little as possible.

She instead turned to look at the person beside her. "SuA? What--shouldn't you be at uni?"

"Nope." SuA smiled slowly and her brows furrowed. "I don't have another lecture until give, just as well really. I'm taking you home and I'll stay with you until Dami gets home, okay?"

"What about my school work, if I miss lesson, then--"

"Chill, Gahyeon." SuA grinned comfortingly at her, but she wasn't quite ready to smile yer. "Dami isn't going to be chill though. When she hears someone has punched you, I bet she'll be on the warpath." She laughed. "Is something wrong? You look like you've just swallowed something sour."

"Yeah. In my dream, Handong died." Gahyeon bit her lip and pulled her eyebrows together.

"Is this another one of those famous dreams I've heard about from Siyeon? The death ones?"

"Yup. You died in my second dream."

"Yoohyeon told me." SuA looked a lot more calm than Gahyeon felt.

"How can you be so calm?"

"It's the way I take things, like Dami. You know, my cool personality comes out. And besides, I don't believe they're real" She smiled again. "I'll let you get a little more sleep now and I'll tell the nurse that you're still resting. If you have a nightmare, try to change it, like a lucid dream. That's what I do." Her hand smoothed Gahyeon's hair back gently and rhythmically until she dropped off back to sleep with tired eyelids.

\--

The evening sky is a dark swirl of blue hues that reflect prettily off the equally dark water of the Han river, where the lights of the bridge crossing are also reflected.

Gahyeon admires it in silent glee from the bench furthest from the river. Next to her sits a tense Yoohyeon, who clutches her hand like a vice.

"It's funny how something so pretty can be feared, right?"

"Do you really have to question the theoretics of phobias right now?" Yoohyeon forces a strained smile.

"I was just wondering." Gahyeon looks over at the others setting up the picnic blanket and snacks and pulls her phone out of her pocket.

"Cute case." Her phone case is covered in multiple neon yellow Spongebobs.

"I know." She walks up to the river edge and takes a cute selfie with the river and the bridge in the background. "How come you agreed to come here if you're so scared of large masses of water?" She takes another selfie.

"I thought I'd try and face it today, like a random act of bravery." She pauses. "Don't drop your phone, I don't think shock-proof cases protect against water. And Dami won't be happy."

"Of course." She takes her last selfie and sits back next to Yoohyeon on the bench.

"You're adorable, Gahyeon."

"I know." She snickers in a joking tone and puts her phone away as she shivers. "Tonight's cold."

"Come and let me hug you then." Yoohyeon opens her arms.

"Or you could and have some food, the best soul-warming solution on earth." Handong calls sarcastically from the picnic blanket a few metres away.

"Agreed." Gahyeon scrambles up and runs over to her friends. Yoohyeon follows beside her and sits beside Handong while Gahyeon sits beside SuA.

Laid out in the centre of the blanket are cans of carbonated drinks and canned coffee as well as multi-packs of sweets and polystyrene pots of cucumber, carrots and kimbap.

"Who bought the sweets?" Siyeon asks in a dangerous voice.

""Er...me." JiU raises her hand and digs into her bag to bring out chocopies and dumps them on top of the sweets. "I also have chocopies."

Siyeon grins wildly in response, her eyes eager at the feast. "Brilliant."

"How come you buy so much food? My parents barely give me enough money as it is." Yoohyeon complains as she immediately snags a chocopie and takes small, delicate bites from it.

"It's called working, Yoohyeon." JiU replies with heavy sarcasm and opens one for herself.

The rest of the girls begin to eat and take pictures, all taking the chance to admire the beauty of the night.

***

By the time Gahyeon's ten o'clock alarm went off, pretty much all of the food was gone - The sweets annihilated and empty wrappers sheltering under the polystyrene containers from the biting wind that began to toss their hair and cause goosebumps to freckle on exposed skin.

"Sorry guys, I have to go now, you know, curfew and all that." Gahyeon stands and sweeps the stray crumbs from her clothes.

"I'm glad I don't have to deal with that anymore. My parents are pretty lax now because they know I won't do anything stupid."

"Lucky you." Siyeon frowns. "I still have a curfew and I think it's because my parents reckon I'll do something stupid."

Yoohyeon stands. "It's my curfew too." She links an arm with Gahyeon. "Goodnight and see you guys tomorrow." The others hug them.

Dami hugs Gahyeon last. "Get home safe."

"Don't drink." Gahyeon jokes and steps off the blanket with Yoohyeon.

Dami's glare made her laugh. She turns and walks along the middle of the path with Yoohyeon holding her right arm; the side furthest from the water.

Ahead of them, roughly ten yards, a large group of men that look around JiU's age were walking. Or rather, stumbling over each other.

"Oh." Yoohyeon's tongue slips a curse. "They look hammered."

"Aren't you glad JiU, Siyeon and SuA don't get that drunk?" Gahyeon smiles and her eyes fall on the dark and unwelcoming water of the river.

"Hah, yeah. Imagine trying to carry them all home or something." The drunk men continue to walk towards them, arms around each other, laughing loudly.

"Hey, I told you I was a better singer than you!" One of the men, wearing a red hoodie moans at one of his friends when they are only a yard from the girls.

"But I beat you." The other one shoves the red hoodie guy with drunken strength.

Red hoodie man stumbles heavily to the side, straight into Yoohyeon.

Like some action film, Yoohyeon and Gahyeon plummeted sideways into the river.

The freezing water reaches up eagerly to grasp at them with translucent tentacles as they hit the surface together.

A hard sound of something hitting the stone wall wall echoes that sets Gahyeon's racing heart, beating faster as she kicks to the surface coughing and spluttering.

Her only thought was getting to the surface and out of the water's icy grip, not noticing yet that Yoohyeon was no longer holding her arm.

"Gahyeon!" The others ran along the path towards her as the drunk men leg it.

"Yoohyeon..." She pants.

Siyeon and SuA pull her out of the water with much struggle, while Gahyeon is limp.

As soon as she sees Gahyeon is safe, Handong peers into the water before starting to lower herself in.

"Handong, what are you doing?" Dami protests.

"Yoohyeon can't be far." Handong drops straight down into the water and out of sight.

"I'm calling the emergency services." JiU pulls out her phone urgently and dials a number before putting it to her ear.

"Yoohyeon's surely going to be okay." SuA disagrees with an unsure tone. "She could just--"

"SuA, she can't swim, she's not okay!" JiU snaps. "Hello, operator?" She begins to talk urgently.

Gahyeon looks back at the surface of the water, searching for even the tiniest ripple or mosaic of light skin to let her know that Handong or Yoohyeon were okay.

As if answering her silent pleas, Handong bursts out of the glimmering water.

"Where's Yoohyeon?" They demand.

Handong lifts an arm out with gasping breaths that SuA takes to help her out.

When she was out of the water, she shakes her head in a daze. "I couldn't see her, or anything. The water was so murky." Handong puts her head in her hands helplessly.

Dami hugs her tightly with a straight expression, but her stressed eyes betray the emotion she feels. "It's okay, Handong." She whispers.

***

"Shit, I think they've brought something up." Dami shrugs off Siyeon's Captain America blanket and walks to the edge of the path to watch.

"Language, Dami." JiU says tiredly.

Gahyeon looks out across the water, her body trembling. She feels dead inside.

"Shit." Dami repeats and JiU can only sigh. "I think she's dead."

\--

"Gahyeon, wake up!"

Her eyes snapped open and met SuA's. "SuA?" She questioned in a broken tone.

"Are you in pain?" SuA asked in barely-concealed worry. "You were crying in your sleep! Should I get the nurse?"

"I had another dream." Gahyeon's lip trembled.

"You had another?" SuA sat back on the chair and held Gahyeon's sweaty hand with her cold one.

"Yoohyeon. She drowned in a river. It's going in age order, SuA. I don't know what's happening. I want this to stop!" Fat tears burst from the corners of her eyes.

"I know, Gahyeon." SuA's voice took on a calming tone, but didn't try to free herself from Gahyeon's tight grip.

"Can't you tell the others that they're real? They'll believe you! tIt can't be coincidence that it's going in the age order of our group of friends."

"Of course. It can't be coincidence." She agrees.

"I don't want to dream of these any more." She says again.

"I know." SuA pulled her hand firmly from Gahyeon's hold. Gahyeon sat back and wiped her tears with the back of her hand. "I'll go and tell the nurse that you're ready to leave now."

She stood and walked around the screen.

Gahyeon slumped on the bed in a dejected wreck with her temple twinging painfully, a reminder of the few hours before.

Dami was the only one left to dream about. Her mind imagined terrible situations, she pulled out of that part of her mind with a firm shake of her head.

Or perhaps, was she the last person to dream about?

If she dreamt of her own death, only the fates could know how insane she'd go...


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really apologise for not uploading last week, I completely forgot as I was extremely busy studying for a test. I still am studying, but remembered today that I hadn't uploaded. The schedule will still be uploading on Sunday, so there will be another chapter in a few days.  
Again, I'm sorry for forgetting.

"I want to do anything but sleep, SuA. Can I play games instead?" Gahyeon asked hopefully once they had taken their shoes off in her apartment.

"Sleeping medicine doesn't work?"

"Dami said she was going to get me some today." Gahyeon padded into the kitchen and opened one of the cupboard doors to pull out a pot of instant noodles.

"Then you can do some homework then." SuA says cheerfully. "You've got some Art stuff to do, right? I remember you complaining about it on the group chat last night,"

She turned and made a face at SuA. "Are you actually kidding? I'm on sick leave right now, I'm not fit to do homework. I can do what I want."

SuA frowned in response. "You were the one who was worrying about lesson when you first woke up, but...if playing games is what you want to do, then do it. But don't let Dami catch you. She trusts me to look after you."

"You are looking after me." Gahyeon boiled water in the kettle and poured it into the cup noodles. "Come and play games with me."

A sigh escaped her lips. "Fine."

***

Early in the evening, the front door clicked open.

"I'm home, Gahyeon." Dami called, her footsteps followed by others.

Gahyeon turns off the TV and Xbox before she pulls a random school book from her bag and put it on her lap.

Siyeon ran into the room and leapt onto Gahyeon, much to her surprise.

"What?" She shrieked in surprise that soon turned to laughter.

"Hi, Gahyeon." Siyeon smiled, her face right up to Gahyeon's. JiU walked into the room, followed by Yoohyeon, Dami, SuA and Handong.

She pushed Siyeon off her onto the floor and stared at Dami's face. "What the heck did you do to your face, Dami?"

She shrugged her shoulders with an air of nonchalance with a small, proud and guilty smile. "I found the girl who hurt you."

Gahyeon didn't take long to figure out what she meant. "You beat Jihyun up? Like, actually?"

"In my opinion," Yoohyeon jumped in to the conversation. "Dami was the one who got hit more."

"Hey." Dami protested and waved her bokken case. "Both of those girls definitely had it worse. I do kinda feel a touch guilty though."

Handong grinned. "Can we stop talking about beating people up and instead about something more...positive?" She turned to Siyeon, still lying on the floor. "Are you okay?"

"Fine." She grunted and rolled onto her back. "Really fine."

"How are you feeling?" JiU asked Gahyeon and sat down on the sofa next to her, a packet of jelly worms in her hand.

"Did you get that from my fridge?" Gahyeon questioned.

"Of course not. My need for food does not extend to stealing from other people's fridges." She looks briefly offended then brightens up. "We're planning on going to the Han river tonight. A little excursion to cheer you up. You're definitely coming."

"I don't know. I've got some work to do for tomorrow. You know my Biology teacher gets really mad--"

"But Gahyeon," Yoohyeon sat down beside her. "There'll be snacks, and this is especially to cheer you up."

"I thought you didn't like seeing water, Yoohyeon."

"I'll make sure I sit furthest from the water." Yoohyeon agreed. "I'm only going because it's for you."

"Fine, fine, I'll go. But my curfew is at ten, so make sure it's at a time where we can have a good couple of hours of fun and I'll leave at half nine so I get home in time."

"Ten?" JiU almost dropped a jelly worm. "Come on, ten o'clock is before the night even begins."

"I hope you're joking."

JiU grimmed in response. "Of course not. Let's meet up at the benches at, hmm, quarter to seven. Is that good for everyone?"

There were nods all round.

"We can all bring snacks." SuA suggested. "So let's meet then."

***

The sky was already pretty dark at quarter to seven, the darkness shrouding the wide river in black. The bridge's light is reflected on the water's surface, causing pretty ripples.

Gahyeon admired it in silent glee from the bench furthest from the river. Sat next to her is a tense Yoohyeon, who clutched her hand like a vice.

"It's funny how something so pretty can be feared, right?"

"Do you really have to question the theoretics of phobias right now?" Yoohyeon forced a strained smile.

"I was just wondering." Gahyeon looks over at the others setting up the picnic blanket and pulled out her phone.

"Cute case." Her phone case was covered in multiple neon yellow Spongebobs.

"I know." She walked up to the river edge and takes a cute selfie with the river and the bridge in the background. "How come you agreed to come here if you're so scared of large masses of water?" She takes another selfie.

"I thought I'd try and face it today, like a random act of bravery." She paused. "Don't drop your phone, I don't think shock-proof cases protect against water. And Dami won't be happy."

Gahyeon almost dropped her phone and looked back at Yoohyeon with shocked eyes and a curious look on her face.

Yoohyeon noticed her change and raised an eyebrow. "What's wrong?"

"What," Gahyeon tries to keep her calm. "Did you just say?"

"Um...Dami won't be happy if you drop your phone."

Gahyeon stared through Yoohyeon. She just said exactly what she'd said in the dream. What had she said next?

"Of course." Gahyeon projected a smile and sat back next to Yoohyeon.

Yoohyeon laughed nervously. "You scared me for a moment there. You're adorable, Gahyeon."

Gahyeon's mouth twitched and her heart felt as if it skipped a beat. "I-I know." She put her phone away and shivered. "Tonight's cold." She bit her lip.

"Come and let me hug you then." Yoohyeon opened her arms.

"Or you could and have some food, the best soul-warming solution on earth." Handong called sarcastically from the picnic blanket a few metres away.

"Agre--Sure." She stopped herself saying what she had in the dream and wondered what changing her actions would do as she sat down beside SuA, where Yoohyeon would have sat in the dream. Instead, Yoohyeon sat on the other side of SuA.

Laid out in the centre of the blanket were cans of carbonated drink and canned coffee as well as multi-packs of sweets and polystyrene pots of cucumber, carrots and kimbap.

Who bought the sweets?" Siyeon asked in a dangerous voice.

""Er...me." JiU raised her hand and dug into her bag to bring out chocopies and dumped them on top of the sweets. "I also have chocopies."

Siyeon grinned wildly in response, her eyes eager at the feast. "Brilliant."

"How come you buy so much food? My parents barely give me enough money as it is." Yoohyeon complained as she immediately snagged a chocopie and took small, delicate bites from it.

"It's called working, Yoohyeon." JiU replied with heavy sarcasm and opened one for herself.

The rest of the girls begin to eat and take pictures, all taking the chance to admire the beauty of the night.

***

By the time Gahyeon's nine-thirty o'clock alarm went off, pretty much all of the food was gone - The sweets annihilated and empty wrappers sheltering under the polystyrene containers from the biting wind that began to toss their hair and cause goosebumps to freckle on exposed skin.

"Sorry guys, I have to go now, you know, curfew and all that." Gahyeon stands and sweeps the stray crumbs from her clothes.

"I'm glad I don't have to deal with that anymore. My parents are pretty lax now because they know I won't do anything stupid." SuA boasted as she drank something that definitely didn't smell like carbonated drink or coffee.

"Lucky you." Siyeon frowns. "I still have a curfew and I think it's because my parents reckon I'll do something stupid."

Yoohyeon stood unsteadily and SuA snorted. "Lightweight." She muttered.

"It's my curfew too." She links an arm with Gahyeon, who sighed at how unsteady the girl was. "Goodnight and see you guys tomorrow."

The others stood to hug them.

Dami hugged Gahyeon last. "Get home safe."

"Don't drink." Gahyeon was barely joking and stepped off the blanket with Yoohyeon.

Dami's glare did nothing to cheer her up. She turned with a final wave and walked along the path with Yoohyeon, on the part farthest from the water.

Ahead, a different group of drunk men were stumbling along the path. This time, they were a few years older and all wore crumpled suits.

"Oh wow." Gahyeon said what Yoohyeon would have. "They look hammered."

"They do. I'm glad none of us get drunk like that."

"Did SuA give you alcohol?" Gahyeon asked with curiosity. "You're underage, and there she is, giving you alcohol!"

"Don't be my mum..." Yoohyeon grinned lazily at her. "I literally just asked for a little."

Gahyeon frowned and looked down at the dark and unwelcoming water slapping the edge of the path. "You should stay at mine then tonight if you're tipsy then."

"True, my parents will murder me if they find out." She grinned. "You're so sweet to think of me like that!"

"Yeah..." Gahyeon watched the drunk men as they approached. "Hey, why don't we take the pavement along the road? It'll be quicker."

"No, I like walking next to the river. It's romantic." Yoohyeon refused as Gahyeon tried to lead her across the grass, away from the water.

"Ugh, why did the manager make us drink so much?" One man complained with a heavy slur and now they weren't too far away.

"I'm right here, asshole! Don't speak about me like that!" Another man smacks the back of his head and he stumbles forward, almost into the two girls.

He looked up to apologise, clutching his head. "Sorry, girls."

"You should apologise to me!" The manager yelled and came up from behind to shove him, powering the man into the two girls. All three fell back heavily, the girls tripping as they attempted to right themselves.

With the man's weight, they were pushed back over the edge of the path, no matter how hard they tried to stable themselves.

The freezing water reached up eagerly for the three of them with its transparent tentacles, swallowing them whole.


	8. Chapter 8

A sound of something hard hitting the wall set Gahyeon's heart racing, much faster than it had been in the dream. She reached down through the water to try and feel for Yoohyeon, succeeding in getting a grip around her waist. In doing so, she managed to free her face from the grip of the water.

Gahyeon's only focus was on Yoohyeon and her safety, even as she felt the pull of the water's currents push her away from the path.

"Gahyeon! Yoohyeon!" Her friends rushed towards them with urgency.

She looked towards them with wide eyes before returning to look at Yoohyeon, while she tried her best to keep them both afloat.

"Yoohyeon?"

"I hate water..." Yoohyeon moaned with unfocused eyes as she clutched onto her arm for dear life, her body completely stiff. Her head was bleeding, but she couldn't tell how badly.

"I know." Gahyeon breathed loudly. "Kick your legs for me! Please...I can't kick forever."

Yoohyeon kicked with panicked vigour, which gave Gahyeon slight relief as they started back towards the path, but the water was working against them, dragging them further out. They were now at least seven yards from the path, constantly moving.

"Gahyeon!" A voice yelled. Gahyeon looked towards the people gathered on the path with a desperate expression.

"Handong!" She yelled back, identifying the person who'd called.

"Watch out to your left!" Siyeon's clear voice joined in with Handong's yelling. "JiU's calling an ambulance!"

"Watch out?" She mumbled and looked to her left, seeing a small boat chugging towards them at a steady speed. The roar of its engine was starting to reach her ears across the water, the sound almost drowned out by Yoohyeon's increasingly panicked breathing.

"Shit!" She felt Yoohyeon's kicks slow. "Are you okay?"

She didn't reply and her hands gripped tighter at her arm before she started to kick again. Gahyeon saw the blood coming from her head again. The amount of blood looked serious and Yoohyeon was clearly losing consciousness.

"Yoohyeon." Gahyeon tried and failed for a calm tone. She glanced sideways at the approaching boat. It must not be able to see them on the water. "We need to kick our legs faster so that we go forward. Can you do that?"

"I'm too tired..." Her eyes had become even more unfocused and the strength in her kicks all but vanished.

Gahyeon cried out in frustration and looked back at the boat while she kicked furiously to keep them both sufficiently floating and moving. The boat was still coming closer - She and Yoohyeon were practically shadows on the water.

Her body leaned forward in the water as she readjusted her grip on Yoohyeon and pushed her legs a little harder. They thankfully drifted forward and she kept going.

It was now close enough for her to make out the name of the boat and hear the rough roar of the motor in the water.

The boat passed directly behind them and relief softened her face. "Yoohyeon?"

"My hair's caught--" Yoohyeon cried out as she whipped out of Gahyeon's numb grasp and away through the water.

"W-what?" Her slow mind couldn't work out what had happened as she struggled to look back for her, seeing Yoohyeon's head disappear under the water as her body followed the boat. "Oh god--"

Her legs failed her and her weighted clothes dragged her beneath the surface as her hands grasped for the air above.

A face bloomed over her as arms reached out and pulled her back to the surface in a fountain of foul-tasting water.

Gahyeon hacked up water in panic and gripped onto Handong for dear life, who looked sickly pale.

"Gahyeon, calm down, please!" She shouted, her words not reaching Gahyeon's brain. "Let me take you back to shore. Relax!"

"Where's Yoohyeon?" She demanded, her throat sore.

"Gahyeon!" Handong screamed in her ear. "Calm down!"

Somewhere in her brain, Handong's urgent commands were sent through to the nerves in her body and she reluctantly straightened her limbs, keeping them stiff and tense.

"Just keep quiet." Handong kicked and pulled them forward with an arm, using the other to wrap around Gahyeon's waist. Soon, they bumped into the path and SuA reached over to pull Gahyeon out.

It wasn't an easy task and Gahyeon could only cry and hang onto SuA's hoodie as various girls helped lift her out.

"Where's Yoohyeon?" She cried and looked out across the vast river to the boat, which had now stopped. Someone on board turned on a torch.

Siyeon suddenly pulled her into a hug, obscuring her view. "Don't look, Gahyeon." She pleaded, her voice trembling. "JiU's called an ambulance, but--"

"But what?" Gahyeon still couldn't fully comprehend the situation laid out plainly before her.

A flashback to the dream hit her like a ton of bricks. "Did, did I not manage to save her?" She mumbled. "But it happened nothing like my dream..I tried to stop it." Gahyeon's eyes poured tears of colourless sorrow.

"They're sending a boat and ambulance. I'm staying on the line." JiU said to one of the other girls.

***

Gahyeon wrapped the blanket tiredly around herself and leaned against Handong on the bench facing the river. The mood was very different now.

There were only six of them. And she didn't think the seventh would ever return.

"Shit, look. They're coming back." She looked up at Dami's voice beside her and saw the paramedic boat returning.

"Language, Dami." JiU said tiredly.

Across the water beside the floating boat the paramedic bot turned in a lazy circle and came towards them, spitting up a white backlash of water.

Gahyeon checked her phone with sporadically trembling hands. Half an hour since Yoohyeon had got her hair caught. She stifled an insane giggle. Putting it that way made it sound as if Yoohyeon had got a hairbrush caught in her hair rather than something serious.

"Shit." Dami repeated in a monotone voice. JiU could only put her head in her hands.

Amongst the huddle of brightly-coloured men in the boat, Gahyeon caught sight of a large blanket, stained with dark patches. Only Yoohyeon could be under there.

"Fuck." She whispered in disbelief.

"Language!" JiU snapped briefly as she took, watched the boat as it came towards the path, with a face paler than her.

Siyeon and SuA slept through this exchange of tense words, their heads resting on each other.

Two men from the ambulance ran to the boat with a stretcher between them. Around the orange bundle on the boat, the men and women stood to lift it carefully onto the stretcher.

"Don't they need a body bag if..." Dami started to voice Gahyeon's thoughts, but trailed off at JiU's glare.

"Don't." Handong mumbled.

Dami snuggled further into the depths of her coat.

Even when Yoohyeon was lowered onto the stretcher, Gahyeon begged for her to move even a little to let her know she was alive. She saw a flash of her dark hair, but that was all.

The stretcher was moved into the ambulance and curious onlookers were ushered away by the attending police.

"Could I speak to one of you? Perhaps the oldest?" A police officer walks up to them.

JiU stood. "That's me." She walked unsteadily after the paramedic and to a separate bench.

Gahyeon watched them with a sinking feeling. Her throat started to close up and her eyes prickled with unseen tears.

"You're being serious?" JiU asked, her voice quiet.

SuA stirred and sat up with Siyeon, who blinked sleepily.

"I know you're not lying, but--" A sniff interrupted her words and she planted her face in her hands before she looked up again, gulping back her tears. "Okay. Thank you for telling me."

He gave her a card, telling her to call if she or any of them required further help.

JiU walked back over to them, her face impassive.

"Tell us then." Dami said.

"Yoohyeon's dead. They tried their best, but..."

"She's gone." Dami finished in her monotone voice.

"My dream was wrong...but right." Gahyeon tells herself.

"Hug me, Siyeon." SuA turns to Siyeon beside her and buries her head in her shoulder as Siyeon's arms wrapped around her.

"My dream..." Gahyeon made no attempt to listen to their listless words, instead, she chose to lock herself away in the deepest and darkest part of herself where only the foreboding dreams existed. Her mind went through the dream about Yoohyeon again and again, wondering where she went wrong.

What had she changed?

Time was the obvious answer. She had set her alarm half an hour earlier simply because she figured she wouldn't be feeling completely well after the events of that afternoon. And that changed everything - The person who pushed them, the boat.

Gahyeon stepped back from the memory as a thought occurred to her. "Did I kill her?"

"Gahyeon?"

Her sobs broke off as she stared at her wrinkled hands. "Did I?"

"Don't talk to her, SuA. She's hysterical enough." Dami pulled Gahyeon in close and kissed the top of her head.


	9. Chapter 9

Gahyeon sat at the kitchen table and stared through the cup of hot chocolate Dami had made for her.

Had she killed Yoohyeon through her actions? The questions bugged her every moment her brain wasn't actively focused on something.

"Drink." Dami looked at Gahyeon from across the table with swollen eyes.

"It won't make me feel better."

"Hey!" She snapped abruptly.

Gahyeon widened her eyes. "W-what?"

"I'm not saying it will make you feel better. Drink."

She was about to protest, but there was no point and her hand reached out for the cooling mug, downing it with several loud gulps.

Dami's face cracked into a relieved smile and she checked her phone.

"Hmm?" Gahyeon questioned at her look.

"It's getting late." Dami showed her phone screen. 11:43. "You want to go to bed?"

"You think I can sleep?"

"I put sleeping pills in your drink." Dami looked at her phone again. "I did promise I'd buy some for you."

"Thank you, Dami." Gratitude flowed through her for her sister.

"I just want you to stop being hurt. I can see how much these dreams hurt you. C'mon, let's go to bed."

By the time Gahyeon had finished brushing her teeth and got into bed, drowsiness was already overtaking her thoughts. She saw Dami watching her.

"Just let it make you fall asleep." She said and Gahyeon closed her eyes.

***

While she slept, it felt like a grey haze has been lowered over closed eyes.

Something dark floats around the edges of the haze, pushed back by it.

This is the nightmare waiting to enter her sleeping mind.

It tries to approach again, but the grey haze pushes back at it as the nightmares forces itself again and again, starting to compress the haze. Against its will, the haze was swallowed and devoured by the nightmare as it spread through her mind.

***

Dami wakes to the sound of hail hammering her windows. She slumps back in her bed and rubs her palms over her face.

"Ugh..." She groans and sits up, turning on her bedside lamp before looking at Gahyeon, who still sleeps soundly despite the incessant hail. Dami smiles. "At least you're sleeping peacefully tonight."

She picks up her phone from the bedside table and checks her phone, her eyes narrowing at the brightness. 3:15 in the morning. She tenses as the sudden urge to pee runs through her and she leaves the room.

When she returns to bed, Dami falls asleep quickly.

***

Gahyeon wakes. She checks her bedside clock sleepily. Quarter to four in the morning. Her dream had been relatively pleasant, nothing about deaths.

She notices Dami asleep on top of her covers and smiles. "Aw, Dami looks so cute." On Dami's bedside table, she sees the blister pack of Dami's sleeping medicine.

Silently, she took the blister packet and inspected it. "She didn't take her medication last night." Gahyeon realises. "She hasn't taken it for the last few days!" She puts the medication back on her bedside table.

As if hearing Gahyeon, Dami rolls over and sits up.

"Are you awake, Dami?"

Dami ignores her, looking straight ahead.

"Oh no." Gahyeon sighs. "You're sleepwalking."

Dami stands and walks out of the door, which she opens and exits.

Gahyeon follows hurriedly in a panic - She had never experienced Dami's sleepwalking alone before.

Outside of their room, it was dark and she could only just make out features of the room.

"Dami?" She questions.

Dami walks past Gahyeon into the lounge.

"It's a myth that you can't wake sleepwalkers." She tells herself. "So I should lead her back to bed."

Gahyeon looks into the lounge and sees the Dami is playing on the Xbox, a horror game. Her controller was in her hands and Gahyeon winces, looking away from the screen.

She plays for a little as Gahyeon looks away, keeping her eyes only on the impassive Dami.

Abruptly, she stands and brushes past Gahyeon into the kitchen.

"Dami!" She calls brightly and takes her arm in hers. "Come to bed now!"

Dami opens the cupboard, her arm slipping out of Gahyeon's to bring out a packet of chicken ramyeon that she unwraps.

"Perhaps I should be more stern." Gahyeon inhales and exhales sharply. "Wake up!" She yells and for good measure, punches her in the arm.

Dami drops the ramyeon with a yelp. "Wha--" She steps forward towards Gahyeon with squinted eyes, stepping on the ramyeon and slipping backwards. As she falls, her head hits the corner of the table with a dull thud.

"Dami?" She cups her cheek with a sweaty palm. "Are you...okay?"

She turns to turn on the kitchen light and crouches beside her again.

Dami's eyes are closed and blood begins to seep out across the floor tiles from her head.

Gahyeon looks toward the corner of the table that is now smeared with blood. She breathes heavily and looks back towards Dami, feeling the butterflies and ominous feeling building in her stomach.

"Dami?" She reaches out, hesitating as she touches the side of her neck. Realising she doesn't know how to check for her pulse, she holds her finger under Dami's nose.

No breath hits her finger and she gasps in horror.


	10. Chapter 10

Gahyeon woke with a damp face and immediately looks over at Dami's bed. She was fast asleep under the covers and it was not hailing outside.

"Was that the last one?" She croaked, expecting Dami to hear. But continues to breathe softly, unaware of anything. She must have actually taken her medication.

Against her wishes, she thought of Yoohyeon.

"Oh...Yoohyeon." She sighed out sadly.

It felt as if Yoohyeon was still in the world and about to burst into her room, jump happily on her and be annoying.

Her eyes watered again. "Shit." She hadn't meant to make herself cry.

Gahyeon's mind recalled every part of Yoohyeon, her voice, her eyes, her fashion. Yet again, she couldn't find herself believing that Yoohyeon was gone. A part of her felt missing, but it couldn't be brought back.

It wasn't possible to stay like this, grieving by herself.

She threw her duvet off, grabbed her blanket and walked out of the room to find Handong, who was staying the night along with JiU, SuA and Siyeon in the spare room.

"Dami?" Siyeon asked sleepily when Gahyeon opened the door.

"No."

"Okay." Siyeon said placidly and settled down again in her sleeping bag.

Gahyeon made out Handong's sleeping form in the furthest corner of the room. SuA and JiU were sleeping side by side to the right of the door.

"Handong." She whispered and knelt beside her.

Handong stirred slowly and looked up at Gahyeon with squinted eyes. "Is that you, Gahyeon? What's wrong?"

"Can I stay here?" Gahyeon pouted, but Handong probably couldn't see.

"Of course." Handong turned her phone torch on and settled it torch-up on the floor so there was enough light to see both of their faces. "What's wrong?" She asked again, patting the floor beside her.

Gahyeon lay down beside her, their faces inches apart.

"I don't know." She honestly replied. "I feel...so odd inside, and yet I feel a part of me is missing. Yoohyeon's...gone, and I can't believe it."

"There are different stages of grief, right? Right now, most, if not all of us are in Denial. We cannot believe that she isn't alive."

"I guess."

"Grief is an odd feeling. In my understanding, it's a place where we go alone. A room without doors that all the emotions related to our grief stays in, all that anger, pain and sadness. It's no one's business but ours. Right?"

"You sound really cool." Gahyeon said in surprise, realising the truth of her words as she temporarily locked away the grief and replaced it with an artificial happy feeling.

"I took it from some book." She shrugs with a smile that pushed up her round cheeks. "Are you saying I don't normally sound that smart?"

"No, no." She protested with a shy giggle. "You're always smart."

"You two, quiet down." JiU threatened from across the room in a husky voice.

"Yes, JiU." They quietened and grinned at each other, closer than ever before.

"You feeling better?" Handong asked in a soft and concerned voice.

"Better, but not yet..." She looks down again as she puts her arm around Gahyeon's waist.

"Don't expect the pain to leave immediately. Hell, don't expect it ever to leave. There'll be some days where it hits you harder and you'll cry all day and there'll be some where she'll be a passing thought, a moment of sadness."

"You sound so wise." Gahyeon chuckled lightly.

"Thanks. You're welcome to sleep here if you need company. I know Dami is practically knocked out with those anti-sleepwalking pills."

"If you wouldn't mind." She agreed shyly.

Handong wriggled back so that Gahyeon could lie on her warm mat as well. A hot flush rose to her cheeks and she carefully extended her arm around Handong's waist.

***

"Hey, lovebirds. Wake up." From above, SuA poked Handong with her foot. Her eyes were swollen. "It's seven in the morning."

Handong took her arm away from Gahyeon as she squinted up at SuA through the bright light in the room. "It's the weekend." She said. "Why are you waking us up now?"

Gahyeon sat up with her and rubbed her tired eyes.

"Because...well, Yoohyeon's parents have arranged a funeral hall for today."

"And she wants us all to go." Siyeon stated bleakly from the other side of the room. "I guess Yoohyeon's parents must be feeling shittier than us right now."

A fact suddenly appeared in Gahyeon's waking mind. "SuA."

"Y-yes?" She seemed to have already anticipated her question and paled.

"Yoohyeon was tipsy when she fell in the water."

"Yes." Her face was the picture of shame. "Because of the alcohol I'd given her."

"What?" Handong and Siyeon exclaimed.

"You gave Yoohyeon alcohol?" Handong sounded shocked.

"I thought it would be okay to give her a little, and she asked for it! How was I meant to know she'd fall in the water?" She bit her lip.

"Yoohyeon's parents won't be thinking like that." Siyeon warned.

"I know that! I'll still go though, and just avoid them."

"They won't like your dishonesty just as much."

"Shut it, Siyeon! I don't want to be reminded of my mistakes!" SuA snapped at her and stormed out of the room, slamming the door shut.

"I was telling the truth." Siyeon said to the other two.

"We know you were." Handong sighed. "I just want to get this day over with."

***

"She's not coming out of the spare room." JiU informed the others stood outside of Gahyeon's flat. "I've tried, but...she can't make herself go."

"If you can't persuade her, then none of us can." Dami said. "We'll just have to go without her."

Gahyeon looked back at the front door and the SuA she could imagine curled up in the spare room, regretting every decision she took the night before. And likely regretting her decision not to attend the funeral hall to hide from her guilt.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a flashback.   
I created this chapter and another one later just to add some fluff to the story, I guess because it's so sad.

"Gahyeon, get up!" Dami crawled on top of Gahyeon in her bed and laughed in her ear.

"Whaaa--" Gahyeon pushed Dami to the floor with her stiff arms and stretched.

"You can't have forgotten about today already?" She stood from the floor and stripped the duvet off Gahyeon. "It's SuA's birthday tomorrow, so we're all going out today. You remember?"

Gahyeon's mind was still fast asleep and she nodded sleepily. "What time is it?"

"Half nine. We're meeting at half eleven outside of the karaoke room."

"Ah, okay." Gahyeon swung her legs out of bed, accidentally knocking her phone out of the bed. She looked up guiltily at Dami and attempted a smile.

Dami sighed. "I'll get Mum to put a curfew on your phone if you continue to stay up late on it."

"Ah, Dami, don't do that!" Gahyeon perked up with an alarmed tone.

"Then don't do it." She chuckled. "You remember I got Mum to ban your Nintendo DS. Anyway, we're leaving at ten-thirty, so be ready for then."

"You're evil." Gahyeon moaned to her sister as she left the room.

Dami turned and stuck her tongue out.

"Are you being mean to Gahyeon again, Dami?" Their mum asked from the kitchen.

"No."

"Yes!" Gahyeon said loudly and walked out into the kitchen where their mum was making breakfast.

***

"Gahyeon! Dami!" Siyeon ran towards them around other pedestrians and hugged them both excitedly. "You're here!"

They laughed at her hyperactivity and followed her back over to where the others were; waiting outside of the karaoke building.

"Happy birthday for tomorrow, SuA." Gahyeon wished SuA with a hug.

"Give me a kiss then." She grinned and indicated her cheek.

"What? No!"

SuA pouted then laughed at Gahyeon's horrified expression.

"Happy birthday." Dami handed a card and wrapped present to SuA. "It's from both of us. Don't open it until tomorrow."

"Can we go in now?" Handong watched their close scene impatiently. "I've never been to a Korean karaoke room before."

Yoohyeon linked an arm with her and raised an eyebrow. "They're totally not listening, so let's go and reserve a room."

Gahyeon only missed their departure because she was trying to avoid a kiss from SuA. "Go away!" She squealed and moved her head to the side.

SuA finally stopped trying to attack her with her lips, so she hugged her again cautiously. But SuA quickly turned and kissed her on the cheek, leaving a pale pink stain.

"Heol." Gahyeon checked the stain out in her phone camera out and tried to rub it off.

"Hate to break it to you all, but I think Yoohyeon and Handong got bored waiting." Siyeon pointed to their vacant spot.

Dami snorted. "Can't believe I didn't notice."

"Not really, Dami." JiU broke into the conversation. "The way you were watching those two makes me feel that you were secretly concerned for your sister."

She rolled her eyes. "I just didn't want SuA doing anything risque with my innocent sister." She linked an arm with JiU. "You got it?"

"I got it." She grinned. "Let's go have some fun!"

***

The five of them filed into the room; Handong and Yoohyeon were already inside.

"Waaah!" Siyeon jumped excitedly around the room before the door had even closed. She pulled a reluctant Dami into her crazy spinning, who made a face at the others as she whipped past.

They only laughed at them and shook the tambourines sporadically while SuA searched through the songbook.

"What do you guys want to do first?" JiU asked them all as Dami and Siyeon tripped, falling in a heap on the ground.

"Order food."

"Do nothing."

"So Chan Whee's 'Tears'." The last was suggested by SuA with a playful grin.

"Heck yeah!" JiU agreed and high-fived her.

Dami looked bemused as she stumbled dizzily back to the deflated sofa, free from Siyeon's spinning. "'Tears'?" She repeated. "You're really gonna start off with such an energetic song?" She half-heartedly attempted the song freestyle.

"The very same." SuA typed in the code using the remote and took a microphone, ready for her performance.

JiU picked one up too, standing with SuA in front of the glowing screen.

"Let's go!" SuA shouted excitedly.

"Ho! Let's make some noise for the duet, JiU and SuA!"

Yoohyeon picked up a spare mic from the table and half-heartedly whooped into it.

"Yoohyeon!" SuA scolded with a laugh as she waited from the long intro to the song to end.

They were hyped from the start, audible by their excited, out-of-breath yells and their visible bounding around the room.

SuA screamed her part powerfully.

JiU continued on, her voice not managing to reach the volume of SuA.

They repeated one line together while the others rolled in laughter at their antics.

By the end of the song, they were sweating and panting for breath, stood before the screen.

"Eh?" JiU covered up the score in haste before anyone could see.

"What? What did you two get?" Gahyeon asked then made a reasoned guess. "Zero?"

"Bingo!" SuA pushed JiU violently out of the way of the screen to reveal the bright row of zeros. "Who's doing another song with me?" She scanned the room for her next victim. "Yoohyeon...come here."

"Yay." Yoohyeon still didn't seem enthusiastic enough.

"Let's do 'Bang Bang Bang'." SuA selected the song as Siyeon and Dami joined her and Yoohyeon.

***

After a couple of hours at the karaoke, they made their way to the local pool hall, heading to the second floor.

"Who's the best at pool here?" JiU asked them all once they'd gathered around a pool table.

Yoohyeon raised her hand without hesitation.

"Put your hand down." Gahyeon protested. "The closest you've ever got to playing pool is on the computer!"

"I know the theoretics of playing though." Yoohyeon winked in the direction of JiU, who flicked her finger to ward the wink away.

"Keep your love to yourself." JiU said. "My love's only for Dami." She looked at Dami and winked.

Dami winced and stuck her tongue out. "Don't make me cringe."

"Right guys," Siyeon clapped her hands and frowned, making a disapproving face. "Can we just get on with this?" She lifted a pool cue dangerously, causing Handong to flinch away.

"One pool game, coming right up!" JiU set up the pool table accordingly.

"You go first, SuA. It's your birthday tomorrow." Dami suggested.

SuA readied to take her opening shot when Siyeon darted forward and slapped her bottom.

"Hey." She turned to find the culprit, but all the girls were grinning suspiciously.

"Lee Siyeon...I bet that was you." She turned back to the pool table to play, but her body was shaking so much from laughing, she couldn't keep the cue steady.

***

"Who's winning?"

"Don't know, don't care."

"I thought you were keeping track of the score."

"Don't look at me. Ask Gahyeon, she's the one who's good at maths!"

"What's maths got to do with keeping count?"

"Let's just say...SuA won. It's her birthday tomorrow after all." JiU calmed the situation before the girls could start to use their pool cues the wrong way. Dami looked as if she was about to use it like a Kendo bokken.

Someone's ringtone started to blare and JiU quickly answered it. "Hello? Oh, hi, Sunggyu." Her tone became shifty.

"I thought you were studying!" His voice came through the phone speaker with anger. "My friend just told me he saw you come out of the karaoke!"

She met eyes with everyone. "Whoops."


	12. Chapter 12

After the incident, the girls came to her flat every day, no one wanting to stay alone in the darker times that they were experiencing. No one wanted to go to uni, no one wanted to go to school. No one wanted to be alone.

If you were alone, you started to think things you didn't want to.

***

Gahyeon walked out of the front door of her flat alone. The other girls were still inside, moping around, not doing anything...staring blankly and barely talking to each other.

She couldn't stand that atmosphere any longer and so she left the flat with her purse, not knowing where she was going to do.

A text came through on her phone. She looked - It was from her Mum:

Flight back is booked for Thursday. Hope you and Dami feel better soon, I'll make you both something delicious when I come home! Xx'

Gahyeon smiled. Her mum was always so positive. Her smile fell again as she put her phone back into her pocket. She couldn't even forget for a brief moment.

So she found herself at the train station, just taking the first train she saw. When she got inside, she sat in the middle against a window seat to hide from any other people. If she sat too close to the back of the carriage, people would pass her each time they entered the carriage. Where she was now, it was less likely for people to pass.

She put her earphones in and leaned her head on the window as the train started off. No one sat next to her and she relished in the loneliness she was given by the other passengers.

The feeling consumed her, the feeling of emptiness that couldn't be filled as the music blared through her ears to drown out her low thoughts.

It was her fault.

It was her fault. It wasn't SuA's.

It was her fault.

She didn't change the dream enough...so Yoohyeon died.

Her talk with Handong hadn't really made her feel much better if she was honest. She had already accepted Yoohyeon's death, but getting her head around the fact that it mostly likely was her fault...her brain imploded with the idea. She, a high school student yet to reach her full potential, had already ended the life of someone with the same potential as her.

It hurt even more to realise that she had known it was going to happen through her dreams, yet she hadn't been able to do anything to save her. She flashed back to struggling through the water with her arm around Yoohyeon, screaming at her to kick her legs...

"Excuse me, may I sit here?" A much older woman stood in the aisle beside the empty seat next to her brought Gahyeon out of her reverie.

"Yes. Yes, of course." She nodded her head in a daze and went back to gazing out of the window.

She felt the woman's powerful gaze on her. Finally, she spoke. "Is something troubling you?" Her words penetrate Gahyeon, her brain crying out 'yes!' in response.

"Oh no, nothing much."

She chuckled and smiled at Gahyeon's expression. "I don't believe so. It's impossible to lie to me."

"Just..." Gahyeon breathed out as her eyes looked upwards, searching for the words to explain. "I can't put it into words."

"Then tell me what made you look out of the window that way." She smiled again, Gahyeon's mental barriers melting at that expression. Here was someone who seemed to care about her.

"One of my friends. Died a couple of days ago. And...I think it's--it is my fault." Gahyeon looked away as shame burnt across her face.

The woman didn't seem fazed and only nodded as she took a bag of sweets out of her bag and opened them. She offered the packet of hard-boiled sweets to Gahyeon, who took one with a murmured thanks. "What makes you think it's your fault?"

"You're going to think I'm crazy."

"Say whatever you think is true." The woman's eyes are extremely wise as they stare into hers and she gulped.

"I had a dream about the night she died way beforehand. When the dream started to happen in real life and everyone said exactly the same things they did in the dream, I tried to change things and things did change...but she still died."

Her eyes softened. "That's an incredible burden to bear." The woman sympathised and offered the packet of sweets again. Gahyeon took one. "It is not often someone is able to predict the future with their dreams. And just because you changed the dream, it doesn't mean you are the one to blame. What exactly happened?"

"In the dream, she fell in the water with me and hit her head badly. What actually happened was that she hit her head and as I kept her afloat, we drifted out and--" Her voice cracked and the lady reached out a hand to take hers in her rough hand. She strokes the back of Gahyeon's hands with her thumbs slowly. "And a boat went by and her hair got caught and--Oh jeez." She hid her face to secrete the tears falling.

She simply nodded. "It's horrible to recall, isn't it? Often, I can't stop myself thinking back to the moment I discovered my daughter's body in her house and the other things I saw, felt, smelt." She looked away quickly and her voice quietened. "I can't even use vanilla soap because that was what I smelt as I discovered her. Death affects us all a lot."

"Oh my God." Gahyeon mouthed in horror for the woman.

"And it can affect people that don't even know you personally. See, right now, you're reacting negatively to what I've said because you're emphathising. And I feel for you and your pain."

"Thank you."

"I can't pretend to completely understand what happened when your friend died because I wasn't there and I didn't experience what you did. All I can do is listen and I hope you can take comfort in knowing that someone has listened to you."

"Thank you." She repeated and sniffed.

An automated voice announced that the train was coming up to the next station.

"This is my stop." The woman said and continued to look at Gahyeon with mysterious eyes.

Gahyeon looked into her eyes then quickly looked down to her lips, unable to continue to keep eye contact. "Thank you for helping me." She said again.

"I hope I have, though all I did was listen. And sometimes, listening is the best thing to do."


	13. Chapter 13

"I know what you're going to say, Gahyeon." Handong started at lunch when Gahyeon opened her mouth to speak.

"What?"

"You had a dream last night."

"Yes and no."

"What then?" Dami asked impatiently.

"A week ago, I dreamt about you, Dami."

"Me? I guess I died." She rolled her eyes and continued to eat.

"Yeah. Don't you want to know how?"

"You seem eager to tell me." Dami reluctantly leaned in with Handong to hear her better over the noise in the lunch hall.

"You hadn't taken your sleep medication for a while, so you started to sleepwalk. But when I tried to wake you, you slipped and hit your head on the table...And you died there and then."

"Oh. Is this the night you came to talk with me?" Handong clapped her hands together in understanding. "It did look like there was more than Yoohyeon troubling you, but I wasn't sure. Sorry."

"And the past few nights? What have you dreamt of?" Dami questioned sceptically. "No dreams of yourself?"

"They've been repeating, over and over. I feel, it's driving me crazy thinking of ways to avoid them occurring in real life." She admitted.

"Then don't worry. Like I said before with, Yoohyeon," Her breath hitched at her name. "Dreams are a figment of your imagination."

"I don't want this conversation going the same way as the last time we discussed this." Handong broke into their conversation. "So let's talk about something else."

"The upcoming college festival, perhaps." Dami suggested. "How're you all doing on practising the dance?"

Handong started to talk with her and Gahyeon simply pursed her lips, zoning out of the conversation

***

"Could 'Dreamcatcher' be on stand-by now?" A member of the college staff called into the dressing room.

"Yes!" They all stood and called brightly.

Gahyeon stepped forward to speak with the staff member, but she had already rushed out of the room.

"C'mon, Gahyeon." Dami took her hand and led her out of the room behind the others. "It won't do to be late."

"How much time do we have before going on?" Gahyeon asked hurriedly.

"Roughly fifteen minutes, I guess. Why?"

"I-I need the loo. Real bad." She blurted. "It's not going to be good if I--"

"Just go! Don't be too long."

Gahyeon ran out ahead of them, in search of the female staff member.

***

She found the staff member checking through untidy sheets of crinkled paper.

"Excuse me." She cleared her throat.

The woman looked up, clearly annoyed. "Don't bother me, I'm busy as it is. If you have any questions, ask Kihyun over there." She indicated where with her head and shooed her away.

Gahyeon went to Kihyun, one of the older students acting as supporting staff, also a boy in Handong's year.

"Kihyun!" She called and ran to him.

"What are you doing here? Isn't your group on first?" He questioned.

"We are, but I need you to do me a favour." She wiped the sweat off her brow.

"What is it?"

"I need you to check the stage tiles. I think some are loose and could be a danger."

"The stage tiles?" He groaned. "Do you know how many there are? It'll delay the whole schedule!"

Gahyeon shifted impatiently. "I can give you an approx area if you want."

"Fine." He sighed and pulled a plan of the stage out from a sheaf of papers in his hand. "Where?"

She pointed to the approximate area. "Here. And please hurry, I don't want any of us getting hurt if it's loose."

He circled the area with a pen. "Thanks for informing me." He said. "But if there's none loose..." His eyes narrowed jokingly. "You'll be in trouble with me." He turned and jogged in the direction of the stage.

If he didn't find it, she could pull SuA back, or maybe--

"Gahyeon!" Dami called to her from beside the stage. "Get over here."

"Yes." She jogged over.

"Are you all here? Great." The staff member rubbed his hands together, freezing for a moment as he listens intensely for a voice coming through his headset. "We've just fixed a problem with the trap door tiles, so they're up and running." He announced, checking his watch. "We should hurry. Would you guys like to use them, since you're the opening act of the night? This evening should start with a bang, right?"

"I'll do it!" SuA agreed eagerly. "Sounds fun."

"Sure." Dami agreed. "Gahyeon?"

"No thanks. Sounds dangerous."

"Anyone else?" The staff member asked. "You don't all have to."

"I'll do it." JiU said, while Siyeon and Handong shook their heads.

"Okay. You three, follow me. And the rest of you, follow Kihyun to the normal stage doors."

Kihyun emerged from under the stage and smiled at them, sweat glinting on his face.

"Handong, Siyeon and Gahyeon, follow me please." They crouched and followed him under the stage.

"Right, stand here." Kihyun pointed to the lowered section of the stage. "Make sure no limbs are sticking out and you'll be fine." He stopped talking for a moment to listen to his headphones. "Okay, so, the others are going up first, then you guys. In the time you have to wait, you could think of a cool pose for when you emerge."

"This definitely won't shoot up, Kihyun. I hope?" Siyeon questioned in worry.

"Don't worry." He reassured. "Right, the first one will go up in three, two, one--"

There was a regular short clunk from underneath the stage and they heard a tiny squeal that sounded like Dami.

Siyeon stifled a nervous grin.

Another short clunk.

"Last one." Gahyeon whispered and Siyeon's hand found hers as they shifted to the centre of the tile.

The last clunk.

"Shiiiiit!"

They all looked at each other in alarm.

"What was that, Kihyun?" Handong asked in concern.

"I don't know." But even as he spoke, the confused mutters of multiple people watching the stage erupted. "It's SuA." Kihyun said with a hand on his earphone. "It just came through on-- Hey! Where are you all going?"

The three of them lifted themselves into the stage in an instant and dashed towards the back, where JiU and Dami were stood together, hands over mouths.

The confused sounds of the crowd intensified at their appearance.

It couldn't be SuA. She had prevented the dream, for sure.

"SuA!" Siyeon screamed as she saw the crumpled heap on the floor, slowly becoming surrounded by staff members.

Someone wheeled a screen onstage to hide the scene from public view.

SuA was clearly unconscious. Her face was deathly pale, and everyone looked wrong. One leg was bent the wrong way and the other was stretched out, pale against the black Plexiglas tile. One arm looked funny and she knew it was dislocated.

"Is she alive?" Siyeon cried, her hand to her mouth in preparation for the answer.

The harried staff member turned to them, radio in hand. "Please exit the stage quickly. The ambulance will arrive soon from across the campus and her parents are being called." She chewed her lip anxiously. "You guys will be kept informed."

"SuA..." Siyeon covered her face.

Handong enveloped her in a warm hug before she joined hands with her and Gahyeon.

"She's going to be fine, Siyeon." She sounded as if she was trying to convince herself more than Siyeon.

Dami held Gahyeon's other hand and pulled her away from the mass of medical staff that started to appear on stage.

"Don't look. And don't you say a word about your dreams." She spoke in a low tone that made Gahyeon pull her eyes away from the staff to Dami's face.

"How can I not?" She asked in an equally low voice. "This...my dream told me something would happen at the college festival! But it can't come true, because I changed it."

"Of course it's not going to come true! Dreams aren't fucking reality." Dami glared fiercely at her. "Of course SuA will survive. Why think otherwise?" Her eyes reflected the confidence of her words.

"I know it can't come true. I changed it."

"Just stop talking about your bloody dreams. It's fucking disrespectful to SuA. She's hurt! I'm not in the mood to talk lightly of dangerous things. Have a little more respect for her." Dami snapped and let go of her hand to walk out in front of them all to storm into the dressing room. She walked to the far corner and curled up in the corner with her bag.

Siyeon collapsed into the nearest chair broke down crying, putting her face on the table. Handong sat down on a chair next to her and put her face into her hands, covering her eyes and ears to block out everything.

Gahyeon paused for a second, suddenly torn by the deep emotion built up in the room before she walked to the right corner of the room and sat, pulling her knees up to her chest.

She expected for everyone to wallow in their own sorrow, but another warm body joined her in the corner.

"How are you feeling?" JiU asked softly and put an arm around her back. Gahyeon leaned into her, taking comfort in her presence.

"Awful." She uttered the word. "Today was just an unfortunate day. I thought I'd prevented my dream."

"Unfortunate." JiU sighed. "I hope SuA will be okay."

"Of course she'll pull through. She's tough." Gahyeon put on a positive front. "How do you feel?"

JiU frowned. "Honestly, I want to gather us all in a huddle and cry, but I can see that really isn't possible. I can see Dami's angry at you and I can see we're all scared. They realise your dreams, Gahyeon. They realise that there must be some truth in them. Especially since Yoohyeon passed away."

"So why do they deny them?"

"They're scared of them, Gahyeon. I'm scared of them. It's human instinct to deny what scares you, and that's what we're all doing." JiU admitted. "Are you scared of them?"

She nodded slowly. "I am. But all I can think of now is how to prevent them. There's no space for fear. But Dami doesn't listen to me, she doesn't want to hear anything in relation to my dreams."

"Dami's a hard person to understand, but I've got to know her better over the years."

"You seem to know my sister better than I do." Gahyeon joked half-heartedly.

"I'm sure that's not true." She grinned and flashed a new friendship ring on her index finger with writing engraved on it.

"Don't we all have those friendship rings?" Gahyeon showed her own ring on her thumb, a delicate band of silver that they all had. "Hang on, yours is different."

JiU continued to grin. "Dami and I...wanted to share something special together, so we got matching friendship rings."

Gahyeon smiled back at her, imagining JiU making her stone-faced sister smile. "You two would look cute together."


	14. Chapter 14

That night of the failed college festival when they finally left the college, the girls stood together discussing their plans.

Where are you guys all going now?" JiU asked the group as they stood around outside the college and the sky darkened around them.

"Siyeon's house." Dami made a face at JiU. "I don't want to leave her alone right now, so we're going to watch a film together."

Her words brought Gahyeon's eyes to Dami in a split second.

Her third dream. Siyeon, Dami, SuA and the bath.

"I'll come with you two." Gahyeon blurted.

Dami's eyes looked suspiciously at Gahyeon's and held them coldly. Gahyeon begged silently for her to not question.

"Alright." She agreed curtly.

"That's settled then." JiU said with forced happiness. "Where're you going, Handong? Wanna go to the karaoke with me?"

Handong smiled with uncertainty. "I guess." She checked her phone for the time and sighed. "Should we go?"

Dami linked an arm with a silent Siyeon and walked off.

"Bye guys!" Gahyeon hurried off after them."

***

Dami fell asleep almost the instant she sat down on Siyeon's sofa, unable to keep her eyes open. Her mouth parted in a faint snore.

Siyeon forced a strained smile at Gahyeon. "I want to have a bath first to relax and wash off all the sweat off before we head to the cinema."

Gahyeon's heart rate picked up. "You don't have to, you know. It's only us three, we don't care if you smell." She smiled uneasily.

If she wasn't careful, the dream may come true.

"That's not gonna happen, Gahyeon. I stink. You know I sweat a lot. And you definitely don't want to be stuck in a stuffy cinema with me." She suddenly fished her phone out of her pocket. "Hold on, JiU's calling me. We'll talk later after my bath." She put her phone to her ear and walked out of the room

"Siyeon!" Gahyeon complained to her exiting back.

"Later, Gahyeon. What're you calling for, JiU?" She slammed the door. "I thought you were going to the karaoke?"

Gahyeon went to curse, but instead sighed to not wake Dami. "What am I going to do now?"

"Are you fucking serious?" Siyeon's voice cried devastatingly from somewhere in the flat.

Gahyeon immediately ran over to the door to pull it open and peered out into the doorway. "What's wrong?"

"No! No fucking no!" Siyeon continued to cry out, sounding as if she was crying.

"Siyeon?"

"Leave me alone, Gahyeon." She cried and slammed another door.

A text came through on Gahyeon's voice as she tried to figure out what had upset Siyeon.

Siyeon: Tonight's still on. Just leave me alone while I bathe.

Gahyeon: Okay. What did JiU say? Xx

She received no reply and Gahyeon puzzled over the reason.

Gahyeon's mind tested her idea. "Is SuA...?"

Awake?

In a coma?

...Dead?

Dami's eyes opened. "Is something wrong?"

"Siyeon just got upset after JiU called her. I don't know why."

Her eyebrows creased in worry. "I'll go talk to her." She went to stand.

"She said she wants to be left alone while she bathes."

"Is tonight still going ahead?"

"Yeah."

"Alright." Dami relaxed back to sleep again before her gaze found Gahyeon suspiciously. "Why do you look like you've swallowed something sour?"

"W-what?" She stuttered, unaware that she looked so concerned. "Nothing." Stiffly, she sat down on a chair.

"If this is about your dreams--"

"It's not." Gahyeon snapped back, realising Dami was still angry with her.

Her jaw clenched, but she didn't question further, only closing her eyes.

***

Gahyeon snapped awake at the alarm she had set, just in case she fell asleep - on a low enough volume so that Dami didn't hear.

"Good." Gahyeon stretched and recalled her dream. It was half-eight when they woke up in her dream, and right now it was quarter past eight.

She exited the room and ran to the bathroom, a flush rising to her cheeks. She was ready for the embarrassment of seeing Siyeon naked if it meant she could save her.

Gahyeon felt completely in control of the situation. Everything was okay.

"Siyeon?" Gahyeon opened the door.

A haze of steam greeted her. Through it, she saw the bath against the furthest wall. There was no bloody water this time.

Instead, Siyeon was face-down in the water, her deep blue hair floating around her head like a halo.

"Oh no." It was already different to the dream. Gahyeon ran to Siyeon and pulled her upper body deftly out of the water. As soon as her head had cleared the water, Gahyeon cried out.

"Dami! Dami!" She panicked. It wasn't going the way she wanted.

"What?" Dami roared angrily from downstairs.

"Siyeon's unconscious. Help me!" Gahyeon wasn't strong enough to take her body out of the water completely, so she rested Siyeon's pale face against the side of the bathtub, examining her dripping face.

Dami pounded into the room. "Shit."

"Help me get her out."

Dami dashed forward and lifted Siyeon's legs out so they could lay her on the floor.

"I'll call an ambulance." She said, taking her phone out. "You can do CPR, Gahyeon."

Gahyeon rolled up her hoodie sleeves and checked if she was breathing.

No.

She leaned over her to start with the rescue breaths, watching as Siyeon's bare chest rose and fell with each breath, but she didn't move otherwise. Her hands crossed over each other and she started chest compressions, pressing as hard as she dared, though she knew the ribs could break during CPR.

"Careful." Dami warned anxiously as she waited for a connection.

"I know what I'm doing." Gahyeon went back to rescue breaths.

"Hello?" Dami started to talk urgently into her phone.

Gahyeon went back to chest compressions, but this time she felt and heard a sharp crack beneath her hands.

She drew back immediately in fear, but she took a breath, returning her hands to Siyeon's chest to continue.

Something didn't feel right. The ribs felt as if they had been pushed too low, to deep into her body. As if they'd pierced something...

"Dami..." Gahyeon attempted resuscitations again, but something stopped her, both physically and mentally.

"Keep going, Gahyeon. That's what the paramedics told me."

"I think her ribs are really badly broken!" She exclaimed. "What do I do?"

"I don't know!"

Gahyeon panicked, her hands no longer able to return to resuscitations for the fear she would hurt more than help the limp girl.

Her wide eyes looked down at Siyeon in shock, unable to comprehend that the very thing she feared was unfolding before her.


	15. Chapter 15

Gahyeon sat numbly back on Siyeon's sofa with Dami next to her.

Siyeon was dead.

Pronounced dead on scene. Her mum had gone with the ambulance carrying her broken body.

The official cause of death wasn't certain yet, but it seemed obvious.

The cause of death was her ribs piercing her heart...which Gahyeon herself had pushed.

She unlocked her phone and went to contacts, clicking on JiU's name.

Within two rings, JiU picked up. "Gahyeon?" She sounded as if she'd been crying.

"It's me." Gahyeon sniffed and took a deep breath. "Listen, JiU. I have something bad I need to tell you."

Dami snuggled closer on her shoulder, obviously listening in.

"I've got bad news to tell you too." A sob crackled through the phone speaker and she heard Handong's voice in the background comforting JiU.

"What is it?"

"I thought, I thought I should tell you tomorrow because-- Oh, I don't know!"

"What is it?" She repeated with urgency.

"S-SuA's dead!" She wailed and it sounded as if she dropped the phone. Dami stiffened beside her and her face turned chalk-white.

"JiU!" Gahyeon cried loudly.

The phone was picked up again. "It's Handong speaking."

"Is it true?" She didn't want to hear her answer.

"...It's true." She said in a small voice. "But what were you going to tell JiU?"

Gahyeon paused with the words on the tip of her tongue, until they burst out all at once with her tears. "Siyeon's dead! And this time, it really is my fault, Handong! Why did I try to meddle?" She moans.

"What? Siyeon is..." Handong went quiet.

JiU yelled from the background. "I heard that, Gahyeon! Siyeon's fucking dead, SuA's fucking dead and we're all gonna die!"

"I'm not on speaker anymore." Handong whispered then her voice went quiet when she turned away from the phone. "Calm down, JiU, please. The neighbours will complain."

"I don't care about neighbours! I care about my friends!"

"Can I call back in a second, Gahyeon? JiU's quite hysterical at the moment. Er, could you pass the phone to Dami first?"

Numbly, Gahyeon passed the phone over to Dami.

"It's Dami." Dami looked straight ahead blindly. "Do you two want to come over to ours? Yeah? It's been a long month, Handong. Bring JiU with you. That's right. Okay, yeah. See you soon, bye." She handed the phone back to Gahyeon, looking at her.

"What? Say it then." Gahyeon stared at her wrinkled hands.

"Say what?" She seemed genuinely confused.

"That I killed Siyeon. I was the one who broke her ribs and the one that pushed them into her heart."

"You were trying to save her, Gahyeon. It's not your fault at all. Anyway, let's take a taxi back home."

Gahyeon stood with Dami, but kept her head down in shame. "But I still did it. Can you not see that? Even when it's ruled as an accidental death, I will still bear the guilt." Her eyes teared up again.

"Oh, Gahyeon." Dami enveloped her in a hug that she let herself be pulled into.

***

That night, all four of them slept in the spare room.

Gahyeon and Dami's parents didn't question them when JiU and Handong turned up, instead staying out of their way.

When JiU arrived at their flat with Handong, Gahyeon felt she had changed so much, so different was the person before her.

She was haggard, her eyes red and every step seemed to take an immeasurable amount of effort, even with Handong' patient assistance.

Dami too, looked a little stunned and unsure when she met this broken side of JiU. "Um...I'll take your bags, guys and put them in the spare room. Just hang your coats on the pegs by the door there."

Gahyeon walked into the spare room and flopped down onto the spare mat, not even bothering to change her clothes. She was just too tired.

Beside her was the box of sleeping tablets.

When she poured them out, a couple more than usual rattled out, but Gahyeon didn't feel bothered enough to put them back. She wanted to sleep peacefully. So she swallowed them with water, feeling them pass down her throat in a clump and lay down with the sheets as Dami walked in with JiU and Handong's bags.

"Get to sleep soon, Gahyeon. Wake me or Handong if you have any nightmares, okay?"

"Okay." Gahyeon stared up at the ceiling and waited for sleep to overcome her, nervously anticipating the night before her.

***

The scene before her eyes brightens into a morning sky that just as quickly transforms into a night sky littered with dull stars.

Her view of the scene is severely impaired by the dark fog that constantly drifts across her vision, obscuring many things.

One thing it obscures, showing only brief glances, is the girl who sits alone on the rooftop.

Gahyeon recognises the rooftop as her flat complex's rooftop, obviously by the bright graffiti.

The girl stays sat in the centre of the roof, her head bowed.

All of a sudden, she screams, the sound tearing her throat and clutches at her head.

The clouds obscure the girl again as she continues to scream and grab at her neck and head. She saw a flash of red.

Who is it?

"No..." She moans and clutches at her bent leg before her hands move to her ribs, retching as if she's about to throw up.

"I didn't mean this, I didn't want this." The girl takes a deep breath. "It hurts!"

She abruptly stops and turns her body to look to the sky. Her face is obscured.

"Has it...stopped?"

The words are barely out of her mouth before she wheezes with a dry coughing sound and clutches at her throat with stricken hands.

Gahyeon can't tell what she's doing - It looks as if she is strangling herself.

She slumps to the side on the ground, continuing to hold her neck with trembling hands. "I only changed...s-small things." Her voice protests in wheeze, falling forward to her elbows.

The girl's body suddenly flops to the ground, her body gushing dark, red blood. She ceases to move, but her mouth still talks in a hushed whisper. "Save me..."

She shrieks as her exposed skin blisters and smokes, leaving horrendous raw wounds that make the watching Gahyeon feel deeply sick.

Although the scene before her was disturbingly bizarre, it was still a mystery to her as to the identity of the girl. The glimpses she'd caught of her seem irritatingly familiar as she falls to the ground again.

Finally, her neck twists sharply at an unnatural angle suddenly and the raw wounds are replaced with trickling cuts and wounds.

Her body then relaxes and she shoots to her feet. "Have you left me alone, you monsters?" The girl stands and shouts to the sky.

She sways on her feet, gripping at her chest. "Ugh..." She sinks back to her knees, her breathing growing ragged. "I really don't want this." She mumbles with a moan. "It hurts so bad." Her body stills and it seems obvious to Gahyeon that she is dead.

Which leaves her with the question - Who is the girl?

***

Gahyeon woke in confusion. "Who was that?"

"Did you have a nightmare?" Handong stirred next to her, her hand reaching out to Gahyeon.

"I...think so." She replied slowly.

Handong shuffled closer. "Want to tell me about it?"

"Now?"

"I'm always here." She whispers.

"There was a girl, but I couldn't see her face. She...bizarre things happened to her. Multiple injuries suddenly happened to her. Like, she, she bled suddenly and then she has blisters all over her. I don't really know how to describe it."

"Did you recognise her voice?"

"No, it was distorted. All of the dream was distorted, actually." Gahyeon tried to place where she'd heard her voice.

Handong was silent. "That's certainly odd. Did you take your sleeping tablets?"

"Yeah. Though I might have taken a few more than normal."

"Ah..." Her voice trailed off. "How do you feel now? Not sick or anything?"

She shook her head. "Do you think it had an effect on how abstract my dream was?"

"Well, I was thinking it could have been like a fever hallucination dream, you know, when you get the flu."

"Yeah." Gahyeon snuggled closer. "What's the time now?"

"Quarter to seven. Why?"

"Just wondered." She blinked sleepily as Dami walked into the room silently.

"Dami, what are you doing up?" Handong asked curiously as her eyes followed the girl.

She ignored her and lay back on her mat.

"She's sleep-walking." Gahyeon told her as she began to doze off again.

"Oh. I guess she didn't take her medication."

"Mmm." Gahyeon didn't bother answering as her eyelids fluttered closed.


	16. Chapter 16

"It's morning." Gahyeon was prodded awake by a sombre Dami. "Get up."

"You were sleep-walking last night."

"So? I'm still alive, Gahyeon. Seriously." Dami rolled her eyes.

"Don't stop taking your medication." Gahyeon sat up and rubbed her eyes. "I'm serious."

"I know you are and I do take my medication. I just didn't this night, because..." She trailed off and cleared her throat without explanation.

"Dami..."

"Yeah, yeah. I know it's a careless attitude."

"That's not what I meant. I had another dream."

She closed her eyes and let out a small breath. "And what happened? Who died?"

"I don't know." She shrugged. "But she was on our flat complex's roof."

"Yes?"

"I-I suppose she..died? Seven times." Gahyeon counted it out on her hands. "She bled, her bones broke, she...suffocated? Then bleeds again, then burns and her neck turns at this funny angle. Then she just, kinda, flopped to the ground." She felt unsure how to describe what she had seen.

"I see." Dami said then changed the subject. "Breakfast is in five. Go and wash up."

"Is that all you're going to say?" Gahyeon stood, still fully-clothed.

"What else can I say? Breakfast is in five minutes. I need to talk privately with Handong, so get out."

"Okay." She didn't question her grumpiness and left the room for the bathroom. A delicious smell wafted from the kitchen.

When she returned from the bathroom, Handong and Dami were nowhere to be seen. Her mum had her back to her, still cooking something on the stove. Her dad had already left for work.

She could listen in on Dami's conversation.

Where had this sneaky thought come from?

Gahyeon was confused by the thought, but realised on a conscious level that Dami was being more secretive than usual.

With a secretive look towards her mum, Gahyeon leaned on the wall by the door to the spare room.

"Do you know what her dream means?" Gahyeon heard Handong's muffled voice.

"No, but I know who the person is."

"Who?"

"She's Gahyeon. It feels obvious. Herself is the only person she hasn't dreamt about."

Handong gasped quietly and so did Gahyeon.

Quickly, she pulled away from the door and turned the table. Her mum looked at her suspiciously.

"Gahyeon... " She started.

"I didn't do anything, Mum."

She frowned in response then set down multiple plates in the centre of the table. "Breakfast is ready now!" She called for the benefit of the other girls.

The door opened and the two girls stepped out.

"JiU's still sleeping, Mrs Lee. We'll leave her for now." Handong sat down next to Gahyeon and Dami sat opposite while their mum sat at the head of the table.

"Eat up, girls!"

"We'll eat well."

They all began to eat.

"Are you girls planning to go to school today?" Her mum started conversationally, looking at Dami. "It's alright if you aren't, I understand."

Dami cleared her throat. "I can go to school. Gahyeon, how are you feeling?" She looked at her with gentle eyes.

Gahyeon thought for several moments. In those moments, her mind turned to Siyeon. Her stomach did a flip and she set her chopsticks down with trembling hands and a tight throat. "I...could go to school."

"You aren't looking too good." Handong said in a concerned voice.

"Are you okay, shorty?" Her mum took her hand in hers.

Siyeon's pale face flashed through her mind, her hair wet and bedraggled. Gahyeon's hands pumped down on her chest again and again, doing chest compressions, even as the ribs cracked under her hands.

The fear she felt at that moment attacked Gahyeon as she sat at the table.

She did it. Gahyeon knew she did it. She killed Siyeon.

No matter what anyone told her, she knew, she knew that she was the one who ended her life.

Guilt pressed down on her an she clasped her hands tightly to her head. "I did it. I killed her."

"Gahyeon!" Handong and her mum stood to hug her together.

"She won't be going to school then." Dami leaned across the table to take Gahyeon's hands away from her head. "Look at me, Gahyeon."

"Why?" She moaned, seeing Siyeon's white face and blue lips before her eyes.

"Look at me." She made Gahyeon face her with her hands. "You're okay."

Gahyeon held her eyes at Dami.

"Gahyeon. You don't have to go to school today, or tomorrow. Just don't think about it. Look at me. That's it. Don't think about them. Think about the things that make you happy. Your childhood memories. The happy memories of us."

"Yes." She croaked, doing as her sister had calmly ordered. The warmth of Handong and her mum seeped through her and she relished in the comfort they were giving her.

Think about the happy things. That was what she told herself as she explored her past memories, diving deep into family holidays and days out with friends.

"Good." Dami smiled. "Now, do you wanna go back to bed or finish breakfast?"

"I'll finish breakfast." Gahyeon gave a tentative smile.

"Good." Dami squeezed her hand and smiled again, reassuring.

Her mum kissed her on the head and moved to the sink to start the washing up, constantly casting worried glances back at her daughter. Handong sat back down silently.

***

Two weeks passed and Gahyeon returned to school.

Her mock exams had just started, so she had to go back eventually. Even if she didn't really want to.

On exiting the room where she had her Maths mock exam, which she thought she'd aced, two girls appeared in her path.

"Heya, Gahyeon! I've missed you." Jihyun blocked her path with Yebin.

"Go away." She mumbled and turned to walk the other way, but Yebin jumped in front of her.

"Don't be so mean, Gahyeon." She smiled.

Gahyeon turned back to Jihyun, cursing her luck.

"Where have you been then? Skiving?"

"I don't want to tell you." She took the chance in pushing past her, but Jihyun didn't give up easily.

"It's to do with SuA, isn't it?" She grinned cruelly. "You took time off because you were sad. I'm right, aren't I?"

She ignored her and speed-walked down the corridor, trying not to run and cause them to chase her.

"I'm right!" Jihyun snorted. "Thank goodness she's dead. Do you know how hard it was to bully your sister while she was around?"

Gahyeon stopped in the corridor, turning to face her. "Don't talk about her like that." She pleaded in disgust.

Where was Dami when she needed her?

"Oh, sorry, Gahyeon. Didn't mean it, honest. Look, let us walk with you. Come on, Yebin." Jihyun caught up to Gahyeon and slung an arm around her shoulders. Yebin did the same on the other side.

She tried to shake them off, but their grips stayed firm.

"Don't be like that, Gahyeon." Jihyun beamed at a passing teacher, who barely looked their way.

As soon as the corridor was empty, Jihyun bundled her into the storeroom with them and shut the door.

A feeling of doom swallowed her and she waited for whatever pain was in store.

Jihyun shoved her to the floor and stood over. "Do you...remember that really brief period when we were 'friends'?"

"...I remember."

***

"Alright, class!" Their swim teacher clapped her hands impatiently at the group of students stood beside the lengthy pool. "Partner up in twos and be quick about it. I want you guys in the pool as soon as possible!"

As it was the first class of the new school year, Gahyeon had no idea who half of her class was, given that the classes of students were mixed up that year so that Dami and Yoohyeon weren't in most of her classes.

Gahyeon turned awkwardly to the girl next to her who looked equally awkward. "Er...Do you want to partner up?"

"I guess." She agreed in a low voice and shuffled an inch closer to her. "Isn't it mean for P.E to be our first class of the year?"

***

"You wanna come hang out with me and my friend at break? I've seen that you always hang around with your sister." Asked the girl she had come to know as Jihyun.

"How do you know we're sisters? We look nothing alike."

"Oh, I know your sister." She replied in an offhand way, but her eyes sparkled mischievously.

"She's never mentioned you."

"Whatever. But you can't always hang out with your sister! She's not always gonna be there for you. C'mon, come with me." She took Gahyeon's hand in her strong one, who was reassured by the sincerity of her action.

***

"Dami's asking where I am." Gahyeon stated as she ate lunch outside with Jihyun and her friend Yebin.

"You don't have to tell her." Jihyun said simply.

"But if I don't, she'll be worried."

"Just say you're hanging out with some new friends. We are your friends, right?" She grinned at her. Yebin snorted with sudden and out-of-place laughter, smiling too.

"Yeah." Gahyeon agreed and typed in what she suggested. A reply came back quickly. "She said that it's fine."

Jihyun read the text over her shoulder. "Good." She looked at her own phone. "Do you wanna walk around the school with us later? Like, after lessons are over."

"Literally walking?"

"Uh-huh. Yebin and I usually walk to the pool 'cause it's fun to hang out there."

"I do have some English revision to do because last year--"

"Give revision a break sometimes! It's only the start of the year" They smiled together. "Come and unwind with us, Gahyeon. We'll make sure you have fun."

"Okay then." She agreed, half-reluctantly.

***

They ended up at the top of the stairs leading down to the pool. "Let's go and mess around."

Now that they were actually at the pool, Gahyeon's confidence faded. "We won't get it trouble, will we?"

"Nonsense, Gahyeon! It's not like we're doing anything bad." Jihyun gave a look towards Yebin then started down the stairs. "Coming?"

"Yes." Gahyeon scurried after them down into the bright and stuffy-feeling room. "What are we going to do?" She asked as Yebin headed for the box of floats.

Jihyun dumped her bag by the entrance. "Have fun, of course. Hey, Yebin. What will you do with those floats?" She walked over.

Gahyeon let her bag fall to the floor beside theirs nervously. Her heart rate refused to slow. She knew she was afraid of a teacher coming and finding them, but she was also scared of Yebin, Jihyun's friend.

There was an unusual air to her. As for the practically permanent glowering face she always wore...it gave Gahyeon chills.

"Dodge!" Yebin spun and threw a rectangular float towards Jihyun.

She shrieked playfully and ducked. Jihyun then laughed as she sprinted to the other end of the pool as Yebin chased her with a float.

"Gahyeon! Grab a float and join in!" Jihyun encouraged as she laughed again and avoided Yebin's second float.

Obediently, Gahyeon grabbed a float and walked over to them slowly as they started to play-fight with the floats.

Suddenly, Yebin turned to face Gahyeon with glaring eyes. She grinned playfully. "Watch out, Gahyeon!"

She spun on her heel and ran back along the pool edge, fear striking her as she heard Yebin's footsteps chasing. Her fear was genuine and caught her throat as she gasped.

A foot slipped out beneath her and she crashed backward onto the floor, her head taking the brunt of the impact on the pool tiles.

Gahyeon's head throbbed with the impact and her vision blurred, but she could still so Yebin standing over her.

"Push her in! See if she can swim!" Jihyun's voice suggested from the background.

"Please no..." She pleaded, but with barely any effort, Yebin shoved her sideways into the water.

Coldness and muffled shrieks of laughter enveloped her body as she felt her uniform ripple around her.

Gahyeon's eyes stayed wide open. As she sunk through the water, her arm and legs began to kick sluggishly, her mind still fuzzy.

The cold water acted as a slight shock to her system, but no jolt of adrenaline fuelled her legs to kick faster, instead slowing. But her head made it out of the water, her mouth taking a ragged breath of the much-needed oxygen.

"Dunk her!"

A hand shoved her head back under ruthlessly even as she struggled against it, her hands trying to peel it off her. But more hands joined and it became a losing battle to make it to the surface.

Dark bouncing spots appeared in her vision as her lungs burned in their choking demands for oxygen.

***

Gahyeon later woke in the hospital. She had been given CPR by her swimming teacher and somehow survived the terrible incident.

Dami was furious, her parents were furious.

It was Dami who had alerted the teacher to her missing sister, having heard from other girls that Jihyun and Yebin had become 'friends' with her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't think I posted a chapter last week. Sorry. I've just been having a crappy week and completely forgot about anything important haha


	17. Chapter 17

"I warned you last time, Jihyun!"

The storeroom door slammed open as Jihyun raised an arm to hit Gahyeon.

Dami and Handong stood in the doorway, Dami with her bokken in hand.

Jihyun flinched then put on a jumpy smile. "What're you doing here?"

Dami's eyes narrowed. "Isn't it obvious? Come here, Gahyeon."

Gahyeon scrambled to her feet and ran to them, the two bullying girls not stopping her.

"That's not fair, Dami." Jihyun said and faced her with Yebin, attempting to look threatening. "Want me to throw you in a locker again?"

"You're not going to be doing that any day." Dami cast a glance at Handong. "You two go ahead. I'll sort these two out."

"Gotcha." Handong retreated out of the storeroom and shut the door quietly.

She looked down at Gahyeon. "Dami's a protective sister."

She nodded.

"Right, you bitches..." Dami's voice came through the door.

"I'm under the impression she's going to give them a strong talking to." Handong started off down the corridor with Gahyeon.

Gahyeon willingly followed her, her mind still relieving the memory of her near-death experience.

"Did you know that they were the ones to blame for me almost-drowning?"

"I knew." Handong admitted. "I was the one that told Dami you were hanging around with them. That's how I became closer with her, somehow."

They left the school via the front entrance and sat on one of the benches outside the courts to wait for Dami.

Gahyeon's leg shook nervously, but Handong stopped her leg with a hand. "It's okay." She reassured.

"Wassup, guys?" Dami came out of the front doors and ran down the steps, tripping at the last one. She beamed at them from the ground.

Handong helped her to her feet. "Should I be glad you're grinning like that? Seriously, wipe that smile off, you're scaring me." She couldn't help but laugh a little.

"All I did was a little threatening." Dami wiped the grit off her uniform. "I have some great videos I can use against them." She shrugged. "I think it went well."

"Are you sure that will stop her for good? I thought the last time you two clashed would be the last time she bothered Gahyeon, seeing how much you hurt her, but--"

"She's a stubborn bitch." Dami said. "But relax. I really will release those videos if she tries anything and she knows that. But that's done and dusted now. Where's JiU? Is she still at uni?"

"Yeah. Her lecture ends in about...half an hour. I'm going to pick her up."

"Where should we go tonight then? Do you have an exam anytime soon, Gahyeon?"

"Er...Nope." She actually had an English mock in two days, but revision could take a backseat to fun. Gahyeon was so tired that anything related to studying made her yawn.

"Karaoke?" Handong suggested nervously. "That's quite stress-busting, isn't it?"

"Yeah, sure. I'm happy to do it. Gahyeon?"

"Sure." Gahyeon recalled one of their previous karaoke experiences, all of them together. The corners of her lips twitched upwards at the happy memory.

But that kind of thing wasn't going to happen anymore.

"I'll start walking to the university now." Handong checked her phone. "Half seven at the karaoke place if JiU agrees?"

"Fine with us." Dami agreed. She turned to face Gahyeon, then offered her hand so that they could start walking.

"Dami..." Gahyeon started off almost immediately.

"Yes?"

"What did you and Handong talk about in the spare room a few weeks ago?"

Dami's expression froze. "You wanna know?"

"I do."

"Well, it's nothing important, so--"

"I only heard the end by accident." Gahyeon admitted.

"Accidentally?" Dami scoffed. "So are you scared of whatever you heard me say?"

"I...Yes, I'm scared." She said. "I don't want that to happen to me. And why do you think that girl is me?"

"It's hard to explain. I can just...feel it. She was on our flat complex roof, she suffered from injuries that happened to Yoohyeon, SuA and Siyeon." She bit her lip.

It took a second for what she said to sink in. When it did, she stopped abruptly and faced Dami, causing the people behind to frown and change direction to walk around them.

"You're right!"

"No need to get excited. Keep walking, c'mon." Dami pulled her forward and they continued walking.

"I don't feel excited." She protested as the feeling of elation passed as soon as it had come. "What do the rest of her deaths mean then?"

Dami coughed into her fist and looked away. "We can talk about that later, alright."

"But..."

"As I said, later." Dami shut her down shortly. "Focus on having fun tonight."

***

Half-seven came around. At that time, all four of them were gathered in a silent karaoke room, the silence only interrupted by the people in rooms nearby.

Gahyeon cleared her throat, a sound barely heard. "What song should we do first?"

They all ignored her, so Gahyeon turned her back to them and focused her attention on the screen. Perhaps if she did a song, it would encourage them to join in. She chose her song - 'Emotion'.

As the melody of the song started, Gahyeon became aware of a soft cream silhouette that began to appear in front of her. The silhouette solidified into the shape of a female, also changing colour to form clothes - A mustard-coloured hoodie and dark jeans.

The face and hair solidified.

Her fingers almost let the microphone slip out of her hand as shocked recognition pierced through her.

"Yoohyeon?" She questioned aloud into the mic, realising her mistake too late.

JiU let out a sudden sob behind her.

Gahyeon continued to stare at the figure, realising that she must be hallucinating to some degree. She must be. Yoohyeon was dead. But this Yoohyeon looked perfectly fine.

Yoohyeon smiled prettily down at Gahyeon, raising an arm as a microphone appeared in her hand. She began to sing along the melody, her voice projecting out clearly. She sounded just like Yoohyeon.

Gahyeon locked eyes with her and raised the mic to her lips, mumbling the words of the song in half-hearted harmony. Yoohyeon seemed to be able to see her too.

Could the others?

Abruptly, Dami stood and left the room with loud steps. Before the door slammed shut, they all heard a muffled sob.

JiU continued to weep pitifully while Handong held her hand tightly. "I can't." She finally got up and ran out of the room.

"JiU!" Handong went to stand but slumped back down, looking to give up.

The song finished and she looked at Yoohyeon, who still smiled that same sweet smile.

It was then she became aware of the fact that only she and Handong were left in the room, as if she had been locked in a deaf trance with Yoohyeon.

"Where did the others go?"

"Did you really not notice?" Handong asked and buried her head in her hands. "We never should have tried to act like nothing was wrong. It's just made things worse."

Gahyeon looked at her silently, a question on her tongue. "Can you see Yoohyeon?"

With eyes that seemed to label her as pathetic, Handong sighed. "Are you going insane as well as senseless?" The words seemed too harsh for her. "There's no one in this room but you and I."

"You can't?" She turned back to Yoohyeon, who winked at her, never saying a word. A dart of pain shot through her head suddenly and she dropped the mic. "My head..." When she looked up again, Yoohyeon was gone.

Handong took her back to the beaten sofa. "Are you okay, Gahyeon?" The concern leaked through her voice despite her sudden anger only moments previously.

"No!" Gahyeon leaned into her and clutched at her head in confusion. "Why is this happening to me?" She wailed.


	18. Chapter 18

The next evening, JiU and Gahyeon met up in a cafe.

"How are you feeling?" Gahyeon asked JiU apologetically before she took a long slurp of her slushie.

"Okay, I guess. But I really should be asking how you're feeling. Handong told me you were crying last night."

"I just had a migraine or something." Gahyeon didn't tell her the full truth. "But I'm sorry if I messed the evening up and made you cry."

JiU laughed lightly. "I think I just wasn't having a good day." She took a sip of her hot chocolate then sighed. "As the eldest of us, I'm meant to be the wisest of you guys. Instead, I'm the one that went mental first when Siyeon passed away."

"You don't have to worry about that. It's something extremely shocking that doesn't happen every day. I think everyone honestly felt like that." She replied diplomatically.

"I guess." She agreed without feeling. "Do you have any exams tomorrow?" JiU leaned back in her chair.

"An English exam. But I swear I'm going to fail it. My teacher is useless, seriously."

"What are they like?"

"He's a forty-something year old man who tries to teach, but jumps between subjects and randomly spouts songs that he's created to help us learn English. The songs just end up making everyone uncomfortable." Gahyeon shuddered. "But he has a sweet personality and tries his best."

"Sounds like school hasn't changed much since I went there. Then again, uni is also a pain in the ass. I have to make sure to go to lectures or I'll miss loads of notes. When Siyeon lends her notes to me, they're never legible or make sense." She smiled and finished her hot chocolate.

Gahyeon copied her expression in relief. JiU seemed to be much more cheerful.

"Hey, look! Can you see the shooting star?" JiU pointed out of the window.

She turned to look for it, but it was already gone. "Make a wish then."

The girl flicked her hair back and closed her eyes with a serious expression.

"Want to tell me what you wished for?" Gahyeon asked cheekily once she'd opened her eyes.

"I'll tell you if it comes true." JiU replied teasingly. "It's bad luck to say what you wished for."

"You're also aware that I'm not superstitious."

"You sure? What about that time you failed to send a chain letter in time? Your expression was hilarious."

"Half-superstitious then." Gahyeon laughed. "This is a stupid argument to have."

"I agree. But you're either superstitious or you aren't. Anyway, do you want to go to the PC bang with me or something? You're not old enough to go drinking with me yet." She stood up with Gahyeon, who finished sucking up the residue of her slushie.

"Sure. I'll just text Mum to let her know." She sent a text to her mum, who quickly replied with a warning to stay safe. "It's fine with her."

***

"Let's cross here." JiU stopped at a familiar section of the pavement.

"Why here? Can't we just continue along the pavement and use the crossing directly opposite the PC bang? It's easier that way." Gahyeon pulled it off in a jokey tone, knowing she needed to avoid JiU crossing the road at all costs.

"Easier? I'm going for quicker, Gahyeon. We'll be able to have more time at the PC bang." She grabbed her hand, but Gahyeon didn't move from the pavement.

"You say that now, but I bet a car will come out of nowhere and--" She broke off on seeing JiU's face change. "Look, it's less dangerous. We've wasted enough time bickering here. Besides, if we get to the place after Cinderella Hour, there's more computers likely to be free. Right?"

"Right." Obediently, JiU turned her back to the road and let Gahyeon lead her happily to the inside of the pavement furthest from the road.

The passed various shops as they passed, including the arcade where they'd often meet up together.

Up ahead, a cartoon 3D sign of Ryan waved sporadically.

"Ain't that cute?" JiU pointed at it. They started to pass under the sign as there was a sharp creak of metal on metal.

They stopped and looked above them curiously. "What--?"

The 3D sign suddenly dropped, along with the broken rusty screws.

For a second, Gahyeon held the strong belief that everything was alright.

But the sign hit JiU straight on and she crumpled instantly to the ground. There was a gash in her head that gushed thick, dark blood, though Gahyeon couldn't see how deep it was.

Panicked and confused pedestrians stopped around them.

"I'll call an ambulance." An older woman said as she reached a hand out to touch Gahyeon gently on the shoulder. Her heat burned through the coat Gahyeon wore.

She looked down at JiU in shock. Her legs felt weak beneath her, so she knelt weakly beside JiU, who was unconscious.

The blood didn't seem to stop and she didn't know what to do as the murmurs of the crowd around surrounded her.

Another pedestrian, a thick-set man with black hair and ears that stuck out, pulled off his jacket. "The blood flow needs to be stopped." He folded his jacket and applied it with pressure to the open wound on JiU's head.

Gahyeon continued to sit there in silence until the ambulance arrived, the sirens warning ahead of its arrival. She hadn't called any of the others to tell of the incident, she hadn't even thought to.

She accompanied the ambulance to the hospital with JiU and held her hand the whole way. JiU didn't wake up once.

***

When Gahyeon waited anxiously outside the operating theatre, she finally felt her phone vibrate. She took her phone out - Her mum was calling.

She was tempted to decline the call, but reluctantly answered it, her whole body trembling.

"It's your curfew, shorty." Her mum said immediately.

"...I know. But...JiU's really badly hurt! She's in the operating room right now!"

"What? Hang on. Start from the beginning. Take a breath." Her voice stayed relatively calm.

"We - we were walking and then a shop sign fell. It hit JiU and--"

"Stop there, I can hear it's upsetting you. Just take a deep breath for me."

Gahyeon only cried harder and hung up abruptly. She didn't want her mum to hear her cry.

"Miss Lee?" A quiet voice asked through her tears. Gahyeon looked up and wiped her eyes with the back of her fingers. A blue-clad nurse stood before her.

"Yes?" She managed through her swollen throat. "How is JiU?"

"The doctors have tried their hardest, but I'm afraid Miss JiU has passed away."

"Passed away?" She couldn't believe her ears. "How?"

"The doctors realised that she was suffering from an acute subdural haematoma caused from the accident, so they attempted a craniotomy, but the damage to her head was too severe. We're sorry."

"She could have been saved..." Gahyeon moaned helplessly to herself. "And yet again, I..."

The nurse went silent before she sat beside Gahyeon. "Have you got a parent or carer you can call to come and take you home?"

"...Yeah." Gahyeon opened her contacts. "Could, could you call Mum for me? I don't want to hear her being worried about me. It hurts." She passed her phone to the nurse, who looked understanding.

"Hello, Mrs Lee!" This is Nurse Moon of Gangnam Hospital. Yes, don't worry, your daughter is not hurt. Of course, of course. And would you be able to come and pick Miss Lee up from the hospital? You can? Great! We'll see you soon. That's right, we'll be waiting at the entrance. Goodbye for now, Mrs Lee." Nurse Moon handed the phone back. "Your mum was worried when you hung up earlier."

"I just didn't want her to hear me crying. I don't want to burden her with my feelings. Do you, get what I mean?"

"I do. Most people don't mind taking on other people's troubling thoughts. I'm sure your mum is one of those people."

"I just feel so scared all the time and I want it all to end, but it won't." Gahyeon started to cry again."

"It's alright." She comforted and held an arm around her lightly. "It's alright. All bad things come to an end."

***

"I'll bring some hot milk for you to drink while you're in bed." Gahyeon's mum said as she ushered Gahyeon towards her bedroom.

"Is Dami asleep?"

"She's in the spare room right now, but it's best not to disturb her right now."

Her ears caught the hint of a sob from the very room, followed by several more.

Gahyeon turned wide-eyed at her mum. "Dami..."

"Just go to bed."

She wanted to protest, feeling the sadness of her sister emanating from the room. It was something she couldn't ignore, but also something she couldn't put right.

"Yes, Mum." She put her shoes on the shoe rack and padded softly in her socks past the spare room, where she heard sounds that made her feel more upset. Gahyeon didn't like hearing or seeing anyone cry; especially when it was her own sister.


	19. Chapter 19

"This is Dongie's voicemail service. I can't answer right now, so leave a message or call back later!" Handong's answerphone chirped cheerfully almost immediately.

Gahyeon pressed call again. And again. And once more. And another for good luck.

Finally, she picked up.

"Are you seriously trying to get on my bad side? Do you know what time it is?"

"Is that you, Handong?"

"Who else would it be? Didn't you get the point when I hung up? I'm hanging up now, so leave me alone."

"Handong, wait--" Gahyeon raised her voice, but she was already gone.

Death felt to have divided them, everyone suffering with their own grief.

She was tempted to call again, but the anger evident in Handong's voice stopped her. That wasn't like Handong at all. Gahyeon was worried.

So she dropped her phone on the bed before changing into her pyjamas. Gahyeon looked at Dami's disturbed bed in more worry before she held the mug full with honey and milk from her bedside table, taking a few sips.

The sweet warmth passed down her throat pleasantly.

Her mum popped her head into the room. "Good night."

"Good night." She mumbled as she climbed into bed.

Left alone, her mind wandered inexplicably to JiU, then SuA, Siyeon and Yoohyeon, including the apparition.

"They're all gone because of me." She sobbed bitterly.

"That's pretty accurate." A voice agreed.

Gahyeon looked up in confusion, fear leaking in.

Beside her, an apparition similar in form to Yoohyeon's came to life.

"You hear me?" They demanded.

Their facial features became clearer.

"SuA?" She gasped.

"Did you hear what I said?"

"What did you--"

She interrupted her. "I said you were pretty damn accurate! You killed us. And you'll continue to."

"What?"

"Stop saying 'what', Gahyeon." She snapped. "You killed us."

"I tried to save you all." She protested uncertainly.

"But you did. I think Siyeon would definitely disagree with you there. We all would."

"What do you want?"

"I want you to pay. We all do."

"To pay for killing you?"

"Uh...yeah! Can you not get it into that thick head of yours?" She jabbed an accusing finger at her. "You fucking killed us!"

"What's wrong with you, SuA? You're not acting like yourself."

"What's wrong with me? Oh, I know. I'm dead!" SuA laughed. "Why would I talk nicely to the very person who caused my death?"

"I didn't." She protested weakly. "It was the stage's fault."

"Another one of us died tonight because of you. That's four of us dead, because of you. You better watch yourself, Gahyeon." She slowly disappeared until it was like she'd never existed.

Gahyeon took a deep breath that filled her lungs and shook her head to try and clear her mind.

Had that just been another hallucination?

***

"I'm doing a practical today." Handong said at lunch to Gahyeon.

"What's it on?" Gahyeon questioned. "Flame tests?"

"I don't have Chemistry this week." Handong reminded. "But I'll be doing a chlorine gas practical."

Gahyeon's eyes snapped up from her doshirak silently. "Sounds dangerous."

"Don't worry, we'll be doing it in a fume cupboard." Her eyes softened. "How's Dami?"

"Refusing to see anyone but Mum. Even then, she's only allowed in to give her meals." Gahyeon's mind worked at light speed as she spoke.

How could she prevent Handong's death? If she didn't do anything, Handong would be dead within the hour.

"Have you seen her at all since JiU...?"

"Not once. It's been almost a week. I understand they were...closer to each other than the rest of us, so I know she's taking it hard." Gahyeon replied.

Handong hummed under her breath."We should see her after school today to cheer her up. We could watch a film."

"I don't know." Gahyeon started to pack her lunch up. "She's refusing to even see me. So I don't think she wants to see everyone. Considering 'everyone' is a much smaller number now." She realised how harsh her words sounded.

Handong winced. "That's a very straight way of putting it. Hey, where are you going?" She asked as Gahyeon stood, her bag on her back.

"Oh, I need to find Dr Cho. He wanted to talk to me about my Physics grades."

"Okay then. See you later at our usual spot?"

"Yup. See you!" Gahyeon left the hall rapidly, knowing that Handong's life was ticking away.

First, she double-checked the time. There was twenty minutes of lunch left. Though Handong would go to class early, so she had less time than that.

Gahyeon stepped outside of the Upper Science Prep Room. The equipment Handong would use - Hydrochloric acid and sodium manganate, was definitely in there.

What Gahyeon suggested was taboo. Breaking and entering. The door was never locked anyway, but that didn't change the seriousness of the situation. Though it was a risk worth taking.

She knocked first on the door to check if any technicians were inside. No one came to the door. They must be out for lunch.

Gahyeon looked around hurriedly before she opened the heavy door and stepped in with nervous steps. She looked hopefully along the rows of chemicals and equipment.

Where do I start?" She whispered to herself. Her eyes roved the labels on trays and bottles for the familiar chemical symbols of HCl and KMnO4. She found the HCl easily enough, seeing it was an acid used commonly in many practicals. The KMnO4 was much harder to find.

Gahyeon checked her phone again and then peered around a shelf to check that no one was outside.

No one. Good. She still had time. Time was on her side for once.

"Where is it?" She questioned aloud in frustration as her eyes once more scoured the shelves.

The sound of the door opening startled her greatly, causing her heart to thump suddenly and painfully against her ribs. After several milliseconds of thought, she grabbed the trays of HCl and ran to the opposite end of one of the rows of shelves across the centre of the room and crouched behind.

"What are you doing after you finish tonight?" Gahyeon heard a female lab technician ask someone in the corridor.

"Going out for a meal tonight. You're free to join us!" Gahyeon recognised Miss Kang's voice.

Silently, she implored them to leave, for the technician to close the door and put a temporary end to her fear.

"Are you sure? I'll try and make it. What time are you getting off tonight?"

"I'll probably leave school at half-six. We're meeting in the pub at half-seven."

"Fine with me. Anyway, Mr Oh wants the chlorine gas practical ready for his class third period, so I'll see you later."

Gahyeon silently slid the trays she held under the shelf behind her, making sure that it was so far back that it couldn't be seen.

The door closed and the technician whistled cheerily as she walked towards the shelves of acids.

Where was the potassium manganate?

She moved further down the corridor of shelves in continuation of her desperate search, aware of the technician barely metres from her, separated only by a wall of shelves.

"Huh? Where's all the hydrochloric acid? Three whole class sets are gone!" The sound of shuffling trays reached Gahyeon's ears, causing her to speed up her frantic searching.

Fially, at the end of the row, she spotted the pots of potassium manganate in their tray.

"I'll go and ask Kwon were they've all gone." She said to herself in a confused tone as she left the room.

Once the technician had, Gahyeon breathed a sigh of relief and pulled out the tray of pots. She hid it in the same way - Under the shelves by the wall, shoving them into the darkness.

Leaving by the main door was risky, so Gahyeon used the door to the adjoining classroom to leave. No one was inside, so she passed through it safely back into the corridor.

Ten minutes of lunch left. Handong should be heading to lesson.

As if on cue, Handong walked up to her. "Did you find Dr Cho?" She asked.

"Yeah. He just said that I needed to work harder in Space Physics, which we're doing at the moment. My grades are slipping slightly." She laughed shakily, still hyped on the adrenaline from a few minutes previously.

Handong smiled. "Why is your face so red? Did he make you upset or something?"

"No, no. I'm just a little embarrassed." She waved the question off. "I've never been called to a teacher's room before."

She raised her eyebrows. "Okay then. I better go to class now. Got that practical to do."

"Have fun!" She hugged her and Handong continued down the corridor and into her classroom.

Gahyeon gave a big sigh of relief. The practical wasn't going to happening. Hiding the trays wasn't exactly a fail-safe method, but it was likely the last place to be checked.

Just to make sure Handong was completely out of danger, she walked outside of the open classroom door to listen in. She could also see into the room by the glass panel in the door.

"Good afternoon, class. The technicians have unfortunately been unable to find the chemicals needed for our practical, so we won't be making chlorine gas today." Mr Oh informed his class.

"What will we be doing then?" Someone asked.

"See, I heard from your Chemistry teacher that you have yet to do your flame tests practical."

A collective groan echoed.

"Now, class. I'm not a chemist but I'm sure I can supervise you guys on this practical. Dr Cho also told me that he has taken you through how to do the practical, etc. Is that right, Handong?"

"Yes, sir. He did."

"Excellent! You can all get right into it then. Make sure to make a results table and don't play with the fire!" Mr Oh shut the door, but Gahyeon could still hear the conversation inside.

"Sir, is the gas switched on? There's a funny smell."

"I switched it on before you all came, but none of the taps should be turned on. I don't smell anything, so just continue.

"Okay." The student sounded uncertain.

Gahyeon spotted Handong through the door, who held a box of matches, about to light one.

"Kihyun!" Mr Oh abruptly yelled at a male student. "Did you really turn on a gas tap with no bunsen burner on the end?"

At the same time, Gahyeon saw Handong light the match with a sharp flick of her wrist.

A small flame bloomed beautifully from the bulbous end and grew rapidly in size, hiding Handong as a massive explosion echoed out from the room. The force threw Gahyeon back as everything disappeared.

For a brief moment, all she heard was the breaking of walls and the pained yells of students.

Dust shrouded the air around Gahyeon as her vision turned black.


	20. Chapter 20

Time passed tantalisingly slowly as paramedics eased the conscious Gahyeon out from under a fallen door, something off about the way her left ankle projected and her neck hurt.

She couldn't hear anything but a dull ringing in her ears that almost hurt as it swung between her ear drums. Gahyeon read the word 'deafened' said by one of the paramedics. It seemed that one of them had tried to speak to her.

Where was Handong? Was she okay? Her slowed and mute mind cast back to the moment before the explosion as she was eased onto a stretcher.

The flame had exploded in front of Handong's face. No, Handong was alive. No...It blew up in her face. But...

Gahyeon felt small stabs of pain all over her body as well as the feel of the dried blood all over her skin.

Mounting pain began to take over her sense and Gahyeon closed her eyes as she was carried out of the devastated corridor.

***

"Isn't it just awful, dear?" Gahyeon's mum said to her husband in a low tone from beside Gahyeon's hospital bed. "Another one of her friends is dead." She blew her nose loudly.

"It's okay, darling. I'm just glad Gahyeon is alive."

Gahyeon heard all this as she woke from her deep sleep, but kept her eyes closed to feign sleep. Yet it was hard to keep on the expressionless mask and reaching intakes of breath as her mum revealed devastating things.

Handong must be dead. She'd seen the explosion with her own eyes. No matter how deluded she could be, Gahyeon realised that almost nothing could have saved Handong from that single moment.

She opened her eyes slowly, blinking sleepily and looked over at her parents sitting beside her. "Hi." Her voice gave out.

"Oh, Gahyeon!" Her mum hugged her so tightly that it hurt, so glad was she that her daughter was alive. Her dad stroked her head with his head while he smiled, unable to hide his relief.

"How many times have we met like this?" She attempted a weak joke, her voice fading as she started to ask her next pressing question.

"I'm so glad to hear your voice again." Her mum smiled with glimmering eyes.

"Where's Handong?"

"Gahyeon..." Her eyes left Gahyeon's face before finding her again. "I'm afraid that she died."

She kept her expression neutral. "I-I thought so. She was right beside the start of the explosion.

"Unfortunately, she wasn't the only one. Oh, it's too dreadful."

"Oh." Her mind ran out of things to say quickly and she looked down.

"Just focus on resting, Gahyeon. Don't worry about school." Her dad said.

Two months passed and Gahyeon was still in hospital, still recovering.

Her hearing had returned to normal, but that was only one of her many injuries - The most severe being her broken ankle.

***

Gahyeon woke in the night with a cold sweat. Another dream of Dami's death. She shuddered and stared up at the ceiling with wide eyes.

Her dream reminded her of the real Dami, who she hadn't seen for the whole she'd been in hospital. That wasn't normal and worry had already started to eat at her mind, only adding to her problems. She could also see how worried her parents were, the way their faces changed when she asked after Dami.

Suddenly, the door to the ward clicked softly open and a thin figure stepped in. Gahyeon looked over at them with mild panic. Who would come into the ward past visiting hours?

They certainly didn't look like a nurse and were dressed in the clothes of a patient.

"Who--" She started, stopping when the figure put her finger to her lips. It was then that she knew who it was.

"Shh...It's Dami." She whispered and closed the door.

"Is it really you?

"It's really me." She came closer and turned on the light by Gahyeon's bed. The light shined on Dami's features and Gahyeon was struck by how much she had changed.

Though she smiled the same way with her eyes and lips, her face and body had become noticeably thinner, her clothes hanging off her and the bags under her eyes looked permanently grey.

"Dami. You don't look okay."

"I'm fine." She waved her concern away and knelt at her bedside, taking her hand. "How're you doing?"

"Me? I'm mostly fine, I guess. Pretty much healed. And my hearing has come back."

"That's good." She replied with an easy smile. "I don't think I'd enjoy having to shout at you. Then the nurses really would have chucked me outta here."

"But why are you in hospital clothing? Are you ill?" Her concern leaked out.

"I'm fine." Dami repeated. "I just had a little...breakdown a few days ago and fainted, It was only a little thing but Mum and Dad wanted to make sure I was okay."

"You look pretty peaky." Gahyeon said. "I don't think you're fine."

"Jeez, I'm fine, I told you!" Her voice rose in annoyance then she put her hand over her mouth. "Sorry, my mood has been all over the place recently. Especially since a lot of stuff has happened recently." Dami frowned forlornly, her mood just as quickly lowering again.

Gahyeon was taken aback by the change. "Yeah. I don't want to believe they're all gone."

"I'm scared." Dami blurted and squeezed Gahyeon's hand in a tight grip. "I don't want to die, but it seems that's what's going to happen to me. They all died, now it's just you and me left, Gahyeon!" She covered her mouth again as tears trickled down her cheeks in endless streams.

"You're not going to die, Dami." She attempted to reassure.

"How can you be so sure? I always heard you being so optimistic. Always right before one of them died. 'I can save them'." She impersonated sarcastically. "And what happened? They all died...Sorry, that was uncalled for." Dami lay her head on the bed. "I'm scared."

"I know." Gahyeon said softly, at a loss of how to reassure her. But Dami looked ready to pass out if she didn't say anything.

"Our hearts have been bruised and broken for too long for no sane reason." Dami clasped her hands over her heart. "You must have been a bad person in your past life to get all these cursed dreams, Gahyeon."

"I was thinking recently that it was more caused by when I almost drowned. You know, Jihyun and Yebin."

"When they drowned you in the school pool?" Dami sniffled.

"I did almost die, you know. So I figure that must be it, or your idea is right."

"Logic can't really be applied to this, I suppose. It's not every day that someone dreams of their friends' deaths." She said bitterly.

"You think I want to dream of them?" Gahyeon looked at the clock then down at hers sister. " You better go. I don't want you to get caught by the nurses."

She stood and bent to kiss Gahyeon on the forehead. "I'll see you at home soon. And don't worry about me. I'm fine." Her mouth twisted into a wry smile.

***

Later in the month, when she was back home. Gahyeon shuffled to the bathroom, not wanting to wake her parents or Dami in the night.

As she washed her hands in the sink, Gahyeon looked up at herself in the mirror.

So much had changed that it was hard to put into words the forlorn feelings she felt as she watched herself.

A darkly-dressed figure appeared behind her in the mirror. "If you think you look bad, what about us? We're dead."

Gahyeon turned to see Siyeon scowling behind her. "Si-Siyeon?"

"Are you really surprised? Would have thought you were expecting me, since SuA and Yoohyeon have already visited you." She sneered and stepped forward accusingly. "I think I'm the most pissed off with you though. You killed me with your own two hands."

"It's normal for the ribs to crack during CPR." Gahyeon tried to explain. "It was just bad luck that they broke--"

"Into my heart? It was pretty damn painful. And you know what? You killed my girlfriend too!"

"Your girlfri--"

"SuA really meant it when she said you were dumb!" Siyeon scoffed. "Listen to me and stop repeating what I say. SuA was mine and you took her away from me. But this isn't just about SuA. You killed all of us."

"I've already heard everything from SuA." Gahyeon interrupted, wishing that she wouldn't start to guilt her.

"So why is Handong dead now? If you'd really listened to her, Handong would still be alive!"

"I can't see what you want me to do! Every time I try to prevent them, they occur no matter what I do. I helped Yoohyeon stay afloat, she died. I got the stage fixed, SuA died. I gave CPR to you; you died. I stopped JiU from crossing the road, she died. I hid the equipment for Handong's practical, she died! Do you want everyone to die?"

"Ah, Gahyeon..." Siyeon sighed sarcastically. "I half-wish we had never become your friends. None of this would ever have happened if we weren't."

"Answer me." Gahyeon demanded with a shaking voice. "Do you want everyone to die?"

"Do I want Dami to die? Well, think about it. It seems there are three options for you. Kill Dami, save and kill Dami or save Dami. Make your choice soon or she will be joining us in the ground." She winked out of existence, leaving Gahyeon with the afterimage of her glaring eyes.

She fell forward as her legs wobbled and caught herself on the sink, taking deep inhales.

"Gahyeon, you okay? I heard you talking." Dami walked into the bathroom and closed the door.

Gahyeon exploded with angry tears. "Are you still not taking your tablets? What did I tell you? What if you die?"

Dami enveloped her into a boney hug she couldn't pull away from. "Hey, it's okay. I just needed to wait a couple of days to start taking my new prescription of sleep-walking tablets. I promise I will start taking them tomorrow."

"Promise?"

"Promise." They linked their little fingers together meaningfully.


	21. Chapter 21

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is another flashback. Guess I added it to ease up the sadness lol  
Sorry I haven't updated for a bit - Exams were hectic

At the start of the Summer Holidays, the seven of them met up at the local arcade.

"Shame it's raining." SuA sighed as she waited just inside of the arcade entrance with Gahyeon. "We could've gone to the park."

"Yeah, shame." Gahyeon stepped back from the window.

"Where's Dami?"

"She forgot her purse, so she ran back home." Gahyeon checked the time. "She should be back in a few minutes."

"Siyeon and the others are on their way still. I think they stopped off on the way for breakfast." SuA explained.

Just as she finished speaking, four familiar people appeared in the street and opened the doors.

"Heya!" SuA greeted excitedly and enveloped them all in a warm hug.

JiU entered with a little more calmness and a slight grin.

"How'd you get past your overprotective brother/s this time?" SuA asked.

"I was actually pretty honest with him. He agreed, but I wouldn't put it past him to have stalked me here." She glanced behind her with a laugh then greeted Gahyeon.

"Where's your sister?" Handong looked around.

"She left her purse at home." She rolled her eyes. "So she ran all the way back. She's lucky we don't live further away."

Handong laughed.

"Ah, here she is. Dami!" Yoohyeon dashed back outside to a panting Dami. They then came back inside together.

"Are we all here now?" JiU rattled her purse.

"Yeah!" They all cried excitedly.

"Where are we going first?" Siyeon asked.

"Penny machines." Dami said. "I spy One Piece balls in one of them."

"Let's go then."

They headed as a group to the row of penny machines.

Gahyeon fished out several coins and dropped them into a random machine. She turned the handle and a pink plastic capsule popped out, which she opened carefully.

From inside, she pulled out a folding cheap plastic mirror and posed in its reflection. "Do I look pretty?" She asked Handong.

Dami's expression froze at Gahyeon's cute tone and scrunched in disgust. Handong snorted in laughter at her expression.

"Let's do the claw machines!" SuA dragged Siyeon over to a claw machine filled with stuffed animals. "I want the elephant." She poked the clear plastic.

"I want the panda, but I don't have any notes." Dami stood next to them while she rolled a One Piece bouncy ball in her palm.

"I'll get the elephant for you, SuA." Siyeon hugged her and pushed a note into the machine.

"Move the claw to the side!" SuA squealed in excitement.

"Which side?" Siyeon moved the joystick right then left. It stopped jerkily above a pastel blue elephant.

She slapped the red button and the claw opened and lowered. It closed around the elephant and started to rise with it clutched between the spindly claws.

The elephant started to slip out as the claw returned to its original position over the hole and the elephant dropped down the hole.

SuA squealed happily and embraced the elephant toy once Siyeon had taken it out, presenting it with an exaggerated bow.

"What about my panda?" Dami asked Siyeon.

Siyeon put her arm around SuA. "Sorry." She drawled in an imitation American accent. "My love's only for SuA."

Dami rolled her eyes and turned to JiU expectantly.

"No." She immediately said. "That thing's a waste of hard-earned money!" She spoke passionately.

"Er, yeah." Dami fumbled with her purse. "I won't get a Ryan plushie for you then." She turned to the machine with a note in hand.

"Hey, don't be like that!" She whined.

Dami smirked and put the money back into her purse, looking back at her. "Pay me and I'll get a Ryan plushie. No interest included unless it's a Hoodie version. Sorry, my rules."

"You sly skunk." JiU passed her a note. "You're taking advantage of the fact that I can't do these."

Within a few minutes, the machine had devoured five of JiU's notes.

"Dami..." JiU silently passed another note to Dami, who gestured for it without looking. "You're as bad as me at these, aren't you?"

"Honestly, it's a learning experience for me right now." Dami moved her upper body in the same direction as the joystick and slammed her palm on the button. "Now would you look at that! A Hoodie Ryan." She motioned her hand for the money as the Ryan doll dropped into the drop zone and out of sight.

"You seriously want money after all that?" JiU gave her 5,000 won and took the cute plushie with a frown, clearing wondering if it was worth it.

Dami whooped at her success and turned to Yoohyeon. "Do you want to get me a panda from one of these? I'll give you 5,000 won."

Yoohyeon laughed at Dami's desperate expression and went to take the money.

"You gotta do it with your own money though. I'll give you this if you get it."

"No, that's not fair!"

"If you do it within four goes, you'll at least get some profit."

Yoohyeon gaped at her. "You sneaky thing."

"Told you guys so." JiU said.

"You gonna do it?" Dami wiggled the money again.

"Sure..." Yoohyeon agreed.

***

After the claw grab, they gathered around the space hockey table, Dami clutching her miniature panda toy.

"We're an odd number, so who wants to be the referee?"

Handong raised her hand and moved to the middle of the table. "I don't want to get it the way of all your competitiveness."

"Should we do Unnies versus Dongsaengs then?" JiU suggested.

Everyone agreed and went to their opposing sides of the table.

"Bring it on, wenches." Siyeon joked loudly.

"You're gonna regret that." Dami returned competitively with a grin. "Hoes."

Gahyeon went first for her team and easily scored against Siyeon, despite her frantic protection of the goal mouth with her paddle. They swapped and SuA went against Yoohyeon.

"Don't lose this for us, Yooh--Ah..." Dami sighed in exaggerated disappointment as SuA scored a point almost immediately.

She celebrated her victory by waving her arms in the air and high-fived Siyeon and JiU.

"The score is one all." Handong reminded them all as SuA continued to needlessly celebrate. "Hey, SuA! You'll lose points if you carry on."

"You're not being serious?" SuA stopped instantly with a straight face.

"I wasn't...Soz. JiU versus Dami now!" She grinned cheekily.

JiU grabbed the paddle and confidently hit the puck across the table. With a focused face, Dami sent it speeding back so that it bounced off the sides uncontrollably.

JiU let out a stressed scream as her eyes followed the puck, all confidence lost. She drew her paddled back to strike it and exploded powerfully forwards.

"One point to Dami." Handong said with mirth in her voice. "Two, one to Dongsaengs."

"I lost?" JiU looked in bemusement down at her goal mouth.

"You see, the thing is, JiU," Siyeon talked as if she were conversing with a child. "When one plays space hockey, one is meant to hit the puck into the other player's goal."

"I know!" JiU said. "I just...missed."

"By a lot." Gahyeon added from across the table, estimating a ridiculous distance with her hands.

"Can we get back to the game?" Handong asked in despair. "Who's next?"

"SuA and me." Gahyeon volunteered.

"Me?" SuA quickly fanned her face and forced down a laugh. "Lee Gahyeon, you ready?"

"I'm ready." She cheered and bent down over the table with her paddle.

"Start!"

It was a short yet intense match, with Gahyeon being the victor. After that, Siyeon won against Yoohyeon and Dami won against JiU in a demanded rematch.

JiU itched her head, still bemused by her double-defeat. "What's our penalty then?"

"Nothing!" Handong surprised them. "Well, not yet at least. I was thinking we should save the punishment for the loser of the test of strength boxing game. Do you guys like that idea?"

"We all agree." SuA cut off any disagreements.

"You just know you won't get the punishment if we do this!" Dami realised SuA's plan.

They moved the hanging punching bag.

"We all know who's going to win this." Siyeon said without hope. "It's SuA."

As she said this, SuA powered her fist into the punching bag. Her score came up as 8840.

"Oh, jeez--" Gahyeon gaped as she was pushed to go next. "I'm not going to beat that."

"Then don't try to." Dami said simply. "Just don't be last overall. But I think we all know who will come last." She looked pointedly at Yoohyeon.

Yoohyeon met her direct look. "Dami, I swear..."

"Swear what? That you'll get a higher score than me? Let's bet and see who wins." Dami retorted.

Gahyeon modestly hit the punching bag, too embarrassed by all of them watching to hit harder.

"7598." Handong read her score. "Who's next?"

"Me." Yoohyeon glared at Dami and them smacked the punching bag with an underwhelming sound.

"What was that?" Dami burst out in laughter along with the rest of them. "7390? Even Gahyeon got higher."

"Is that an insult to my adolescent strength?" Gahyeon asked, but her sister ignored her.

Handong went next and got 8001. JiU achieved a score of 8263 and Siyeon got 8661. Finally, Dami got a score of 8016.

JiU proudly raised SuA's arm. "I declare SuA the winner and...Yoohyeon the loser."

"What's the penalty?" Siyeon asked curiously. "Like, face-pulling, buying lunch, or what?"

"Both." JiU decided. "We'll take a picture with Yoohyeon pulling a face then she can buy us lunch."

"No, wait!" Yoohyeon to protest. "What about the losers of the hocke--"

"I'm taking the picture." Dami got her phone out as the other girls gathered around a sullen-faced Yoohyeon, who looked resigned to her fate. "One, two, three." She took the picture and chuckled before turning her phone so that the others could see.

"Oh man." Siyeon clapped her hands over her mouth as peals of laughter escaped. "Please put that on the groupchat."

"What do you guys want for lunch?" Yoohyeon sighed and pulled out her purse.

"Ramyeon!"

"Bibimbap!"

"Gimbab."

"Samgyeopsal!"

"Hey, be sensible, I don't have unlimited money!" Yoohyeon protested.


	22. Chapter 22

Dami met eyes with Gahyeon as she parted from the hug. "Were you talking to yourself before I came in?"

"I was talking to Siyeon." Gahyeon admitted, already predicting Dami's strong reaction.

Dami blinked rapidly, pulling further away. "Si-Siyeon?"

"Her spirit-thingy threat--er, talked to me just now."

She stared back at Gahyeon with an unreadable expression. "Is this like when you saw Yoohyeon at the karaoke?"

"Yes. And I really didn't imagine it, before you say anything. I've seen SuA as well."

"I wasn't going to say that. You know that I know logic can't be applied to the situation we're in." She said shortly and looked directly at her with a small smile. "You wanna play video games with me? They're good for relieving stress, you know."

"Er, sure. Were you planning to anyway?"

"Yeah. I was on my way to the lounge when I heard you. Playing at night is also the best way to get past the 'Mum talk' about the violence and danger of video games to the mind." She grinned impishly and offered her hand, seeming determined to forget the strangeness of what Gahyeon had told her. "Coming?"

In the lounge they played video games together, on a low volume. Gahyeon settled back on the sofa, attempting to relax while Dami set up the Xbox to play one of her 18+ games.

***

Together, they played into the early hours of the morning. Gahyeon saw the time on the clock when she checked it between killing mutant monsters and protecting Dami's character.

Finally, a mutant beast leapt atop Dami's character and clawed them to the ground, ripping out the character's throat.

The game then asked if they wanted to restart the game from the last checkpoint.

Gahyeon looked over at Dami next to her, who snored delicately with her mouth open. She laughed quietly and put down her controller.

Tempted to wake her up, Gahyeon reached up a hand but decided against it, knowing she could easily stop her sleepwalking from her current position.

Gahyeon stood and stretched before she walked to the balcony doors and eased the curtains across, opened the doors and stepped out into the biting breeze.

For several seconds, she stood there, her hands on the railing and looked out across the sea of buildings that surrounded her loosely, broken up by twisting roads. She let the wind take its shapeless fingers through her hair and chill her skin. Her feet were already soaked with the morning dew covering the flooring.

Gahyeon then looked down, her mind curious as to what she was able to see. She leaned over the balcony and peered down at the parking lot below, sparsely filled with vehicles. Her flat was four floors up and she enjoyed the rush of adrenaline as she leaned her body further over the edge. Then she pulled herself up, no wish to fall to a potentially painful death and glanced at Dami, who still slept peacefully on the sofa.

She was oddly content at that moment as she turned back to the view spread out before her and the morning sky. She thought of no one but herself and that was the only time she could forget everyone, when she felt as if she was the only one who existed in the world.

Everyone, but herself. The pain of loss in her heart eased and she smiled briefly in the melancholy atmosphere.

She spun back to face the doors, her back to the night sky and re-entered the lounge. Dami was still sleeping, the controller in her hands. Gahyeon sat down beside her and eased Dami's body to the side so that she was leaning against Gahyeon. She also took the controller from Dami's limp grip and let Dami's warmth lull her into sleep.

***

Gahyeon's eyes flicked open to the sound of heavy rain. She was now lying down on the sofa. Her eyes headed for the balcony, where the doors were open.

In her slow waking state, she finally remembered that she'd left the doors open so that rain now soaked the carpet just inside the doors and the curtain blew wildly in the wind.

Her second realisation was the absence of Dami - She was only lying down because Dami wasn't sitting there any longer.

"Dami?" She questioned the room.

Then she saw Dami as she slowly approached the open doors and rain. Her back was stiffly straight and her walking gave the impression of not being fully awake.

She definitely wasn't conscious.

Dami opened the doors wider and stepped out onto the slippery, wet balcony. Her clothes were soaked in seconds.

"Dami!" Gahyeon leapt from the sofa and jumped over the coffee table in her rush to reach her, catching her foot on the edge in the action.

She tumbled to the floor and sprung back immediately to her feet.

Dami seemed to lean over the balcony curiously, as if searching for something.

"Dami!" Gahyeon yelled again, running onto the balcony. Her feet slid out from beneath her, causing her to fall forward into Dami.

Without a sound, Dami tumbled over the edge of the balcony. Still on her feet, Gahyeon struck her hand out.

Her fingers caught around wet fabric and she clenched her fist.

Dami's fall came to a sudden halt, her body jerking heavily.

Gahyeon almost let go again, but she held tightly onto her and the balcony.

Dami's head moved up, looking at Gahyeon with stricken eyes.

It was then that she realised Dami was awake, woken by her sudden stop in the air.

"Gahyeon!" She screamed as she realised where she was, her eyes flicking down to look below. "Don't let me die!" Her voice wails in complete terror.

Gahyeon's eyes were equally wide as she struggled with keeping her grip on Dami's pyjama sleeve. "Stop moving! I can't hold you!"

As if she hadn't heard, Dami continued to flail her free hand for the balcony to no success. Each attempt weakened Gahyeon's grip on her.

"Don't let me die!" She panted. "I don't want to die!"

She made one final lunge for the balcony. And that was when Gahyeon's cramping fingers lost their grip on her.

As she realised she was falling. Dami fixed Gahyeon with a wild-eyed look that haunted her.

Her mouth opened to scream something unintelligible and her hands reached out.

"Oh God." Gahyeon threw up her arms to hide the inevitable scene from her already scarred eyes. When a faint thump sound hit her ears, she fell to her knees and gagged, finally throwing up, retching heavily.

As the thick spittle hung from her lips, she crawled to the edge of the balcony to peer over the edge.

Far below, Dami lay dead. That was almost certain. Her blood dyed the roof of one of the neighbour's silver car red.

Her empty stomach flipped violently and she clenched her eyes closed as the rain continued to pelt her relentlessly.

"D-Dami..." She managed with her constricted throat before she choked out a sob. "Why did you all leave me?" Gahyeon wailed loudly.

She crawled back inside onto the sodden carpet, not trusting her legs to hold her.

Her mum and dad walked into the room, in their dressing gowns.

"Gahyeon, what in tarnation are you doing? Why are you soaking wet?" Her mum asked in a tired tone, not yet noticing her distress.

"Dami's dead!" She cried.

"What type of joke is this?" Her dad looked even less happy with her. "Waking us up this early and playing video games on top of that?"

"L-look over the balcony." Gahyeon stuttered with juddering breaths.

"Let me get my coat." He still seemed to believe some untruth in her words and returned with his red raincoat. He put it on and took his flip-flops off, walking barefoot onto the balcony. He glanced over the edge. "My God..."

"What is it, dear?" Her mum asked.

He turned with haunted eyes and reentered the lounge with halted steps. "I'm calling an ambulance." He left the room in a hurry.

Gahyeon curled into herself, still sobbing fat tears as her mum rubbed her back in confused resignment to get her pyjamas wet, embracing her tightly with closed eyes.

***

"How is she, dear?" Gahyeon's mum greeted her husband as he entered the flat and draped his dripping raincoat on the coat hooks. Then he sat down at the table with clasped hands and a frown on his weathered face.

"Dear?"

Gahyeon watched them from the door to the lounge.

He took a long time to gather his words, his mouth pursed and his brow furrowed as he processed.

"Dami is dead." He finally said.

Her mum slapped her hands onto the edge of the table and leaned stiffly with her head bowed.

"She died on impact with Son Jongki's car. The police will be coming soon to arrange dates for taking statements and investigating where she fell from." His voice quietly answered as he continued to frown, his grief not yet visible.

"Oh!" Her mum began to weep in distress and embraced him.

Gahyeon felt the emotions build up inside her as she watched her mum break down and her dad sit still. Two ways of dealing with death, and what was Gahyeon's?

She didn't know, not anymore.

Something broke, or rather, something snapped sharply into shards as she struggled to cope with the idea she'd have to come to terms with.

All of her friends were dead. Everyone but her...was dead.

Her sister, her bestest friend, her dearest friends...

Gladly, she let herself fall back, letting her body shut down as it thumped to the ground.

***

"Hello, Miss Lee Gahyeon. Correct? I am the investigating officer Lee Dawon, regarding your sister's unfortunate death." He smiled in an attempt to appear friendly, but instead came across as impersonal. He sat across from Gahyeon at the table, ready with an open laptop.

"Yes."

"Please take your time with your statement. I realise you are recalling a traumatic event." He raised his eyebrows. "Can you take me through what happened, every detail, in order? Don't think anything is too unimportant to mention."

She opened her mouth and closed it again, losing her words. Then she cleared her throat. In a halting manner, she began to explain her story as he typed busily on the laptop.

"She was already there, leaning over the edge. I fell into her because it was slippery and--" She stopped and took a much needed breath.

"Would you like some water?" He finally achieved the kind tone.

"No. No, thank you. So...erm, she fell, but I caught her sleeve and was holding her, but my grip was slipping. She, she woke up as well and was flailing. Then my fingers cramped...And she fell." Gahyeon buried her face in her hands, determined not to cry.

"Thank you for that." He continued the interview, asking for her to repeat her account of the events in different orders to prevent possible lying.

"May I ask you a question?" He asked curiously. "A little off-topic."

She nodded. "Yes?"

"Have any of your friends died recently?"

Gahyeon nodded again, refusing herself to remember them. "Why?"

"I've had a look over your statements for each of the incidents. But, are you sure there was nothing, unusual, in their deaths?"

"What like?"

"Evidence of, er, foul play." The officer admitted. "The police committee here have been debating on opening a murder investigation into the five of their deaths."

"Ah. Why is that?" Gahyeon was not in the least curious. They were dead because of her. They'd died because of her dreams. But the police wouldn't believe that.

"We'll have permission of the parents to investigate, but it's not exactly common for a group of friends to die within months of each other, is it?" He looked concerned at her. "You watch yourself, alright? Don't go out late at night and always let your parents know where you are, okay?"

"Okay." He obviously thought the killer was some crazy serial murderer. Not the girl sat before him, all her tears dry.

He stood, so she did too. His mouth smiled again. "We appreciate you coming here. It will mean a lot for your sister's inquest. Would you like me to see you out?"

"No, thank you. Er, have a nice day." She flashed a forced smile and walked out of the room and finally out through the front doors of the police station.

She planned to walk the long way home so that she could avoid seeing her parents as much as possible. What were they thinking? Did they think her poor daughter was a murderer? Gahyeon couldn't bear imagining their thoughts.

"Hey, Gahyeon!" A voice greeted her lightly, cutting through her thoughts like a sharpened knife.

Gahyeon was met with a face she thought she would never see again.


	23. Chapter 23

"Hey, Gahyeon!" A voiced greeted her lightly, cutting through her thoughts like a sharpened knife.

Gahyeon was met with a face she thought she would never see again.

"JiU?"

"The one and only." She smiled then started to walk along the pavement.

Gahyeon hurried to walk beside her and they fell into slow step. She also put her phone to her ear to make it look as if she was talking to someone.

"Anything you want to say first, Gahyeon?" JIU asked first as Gahyeon's face flushed in shame.

"I'm sorry I couldn't save you." She said in a miserable tone. "I did try, but you--"

"Died by other means. I was meant to get hit by a car, wasn't I?"

"Yeah." Gahyeon wondered why she was so calm compared to Siyeon, who had yelled at her.

"Then I got hit by a shop sign. A Ryan one too. How ironic is that?" She sighed, but her eyes hardened. "But all of us are rather mad at you."

"Because they died, which was my fault." She accepted.

"Not necessarily..." JiU avoided carefully. "...Your fault."

"You all died because of situations I'd created though."

"But you had the dreams first. That set the stage, set the stone rolling. It wasn't your fault you had the dreams, if you believe in fate doing this to you. But if you want someone to blame, blame Yebin. She's the one who pushed you into the pool." She smiled.

"I see."

JiU's tone changed. "But after Yoohyeon's death and the realisation they'd die like your dreams, you had five chances to figure out how to save each one of them. And what happened?"

"They died." Gahyeon mumbled.

"You could have prevented the situations from ever happening. Agreeing not to go to the meet-up at the river. Cancelled the college performance and you would have saved SuA and Siyeon--"

"Why Siyeon as wel--"

"Meeting up elsewhere apart from that same bloody coffee shop would have saved me! Making Handong late to class would have worked. And as for Dami...you were foolish and careless."

"I just forgot to close the door." She made the excuse weakly.

"Don't give me excuses, Lee Gahyeon! You made mistakes and now you're dealing with the consequences. You killed your sister. You killed your friends. Will people want to hang around you any longer, knowing you're a killer?"

"JiU, stop." She begged.

"Fine.." She took a slow breath. But only for now. I'm beyond angry at you, but at the same time I wonder what I would have done if I were in your situation. The others want vengeance and closure, and they mean it. Like the officer said, be careful. Handong will be seeing you soon." With that, JiU waved and disappeared into the air.

Gahyeon took her phone away from her ear. She was bemused by the different ways her friends had conversed with her, some more aggressive than others - Yoohyeon had said nothing, SuA and Siyeon had verbally abused her and JiU was a mix.

What would Handong say?

***

"I'm home."

No one answered, so she checked all the rooms and found no sign of her parents. She didn't mind and figured they must have gone out, perhaps to visit her dad's parents. Now, she had the whole place to herself for several hours.

After checking all the rooms, she returned to the balcony doors and opened them gently. Gahyeon put her hand on the balcony railing and closed her eyes, whispering Dami's name under her breath. Then she left the balcony and firmly shut and locked the doors.

Gahyeon returned to the kitchen, only blinking quickly as she saw Handong sitting at the table. She put her phone on the table and started to look through the cupboards for something to eat, though she wasn't that hungry. She just wanted something to occupy herself with.

"I'm right here." Handong announced. "I assume JiU told you I was coming."

"Yeah." Gahyeon tipped a square of ramyeon into a pot, added water and turned on the cooker under the pot. "Can I just ask you one question before you start your whole spiel of accusing me?"

"If you want." Handong raised her eyebrows.

"Are you all hallucinations? Or are you real? As in, real ghosts, come to haunt me?"

"We're very real." She smiled.

Gahyeon sighed. At least she wasn't going completely insane. She dumped the packet of flavouring into the pot.

"I'm not here to accuse you, like some of us." She started steadily.

"What are you going to do then?"

"Talk to you." She replied simply.

Gahyeon paused in her movement, but stayed silent.

"I realised not too long before I died that I felt, different, about you compared to the others. I felt attracted to you and wanted to be with you forever. So, I think it hurt harder when I saw you through the door right before the room exploded. I felt...betrayed. I felt hurt that you couldn't save me and hadn't been able to save the others either."

"I regret the choices I made." Gahyeon said and poked at the boiling noodles. "I regret losing you all. And I regret losing you. Because, I think I felt the same way. I just, didn't know how to. Express it."

"So you felt the same?"

"I do. I did. But now I'm alone. You don't really exist anymore, so what's the point in this conversation?"

"I don't know anymore!" Handong's voice rose in frustration. "We're dead, but we still linger here, watching you and we don't know why. That's why the others want to kill you; so they'll be free."

"Have they forgotten our friendship?" Gahyeon asked in despair.

"I think those feelings were revoked when they died because of your actions. You see, I realised from you telling me of the original dreams, that all the incidents were not caused by you. A drunk, a faulty stage, slipping over, a crazy driver, clumsiness, a table. But when you took it upon yourself to actually change the outcomes of these dreams, you became the cause of the incidents."

"So what I was I meant to do? Let you all die? You're all my friends, that's why I tried to save everyone. You all mean something to me, so what are you telling me I should have done?"

Handong stayed quiet as Gahyeon flipped the gas off and poured the noodles into a bowl, bringing it to the table and sitting down.

"JiU told you what you should have done, making decisions to avoid the situation occurring in the first place. But it depends on fate, which I believe in. So I believe we were fated to die by your hands."

"And what do the others think?" Gahyeon continued to rid her voice of emotion so that she wouldn't end up bursting into tears suddenly.

"They don't believe in fate." Handong shrugged. "But they hate you now."

"Well, that's great,"

"Yeah, well, I guess death screwed with their brains and made 'kill Gahyeon' the main priority." The moment she finished speaking, she clapped a hand over her own mouth in comic surprise. "Whoops."

"Are you being serious?" Gahyeon had the strong impression she let it slip on purpose.

Handong put her hand down and looked her straight in the eyes. "Completely."

"Where are they then? And why do you all appear alone?"

"Around." Handong made a vague circling gesture with her hands. "But you can't see or hear them. And why we appear, one by one? Everyone just wants to be dramatic and break you." Her smile twinkled.

"What's going to happen to me, Handong?" Gahyeon's invisible block against her emotions feel and her fear slipped out before her curiousness. "Are they really going to kill me?"

"'They' includes me too, you know." Handong's personality shifted like a switch and she grinned menacingly as Gahyeon stumbled out of her chair in horror, never taking her eyes off Handong. "Better run. They're coming." She raised an eyebrow teasingly.

Gahyeon bolted to the front door and wrenched it open. Curses whispered through her lips as she sprinted towards the lifts at the end of the white corridor.

Were they surrounding her at that very moment when she couldn't see them, preparing to murder her how her dream dictated?

Urgently, she jabbed the call button for the lift. Luckily, the lift was only on the floor above and soon, the doors opened.

"Heya, Gahyeon." Dami waved with a mocking smile. "You coming in?"

She stared open-mouthed at her. Dami stepped forward.

"D-don't touch me!"

"Run away then." She waved serenely as Gahyeon dashed back down the corridor towards the stairs.

Once she reached the bottom of the first set of stairs, she spotted Yoohyeon in the large doorway to the next floor, her arms at her sides.

"Shit." Her mouth slipped out at the mere sight of her.

"Are you going to run?" Yoohyeon questioned innocently. "Or am I alone not scary enough?"

Siyeon appeared beside her as if summoned and pushed Yoohyeon out of her way, going out of her way to appear more dominating.

She stared angrily up at Gahyeon with eyes that seemed to glow. "Run, bitch!"

Gahyeon bolted back up the stairs to the floor she started on, not attempting to run past Siyeon to the next floor blow.

She was too frightened, too terrified.

Her only option then, was up.

So she started to run up the stairs, hoping she wouldn't meet anyone else."

When she reached the next floor, Gahyeon considered asking to enter one of the flats to hide until SuA sauntered into the doorway. She smirked and stood confidently. "Gonna run?"

"N-no--" Gahyeon's heart sank further away from hope, drowning in anguish.

"You better do, or I'll--" SuA sneered.

Gahyeon spun with shaking legs towards the next flight of stairs up in an instant. "It's what they want." She panted under her breath. With a resolved mind, she ran up the next flight of stairs to the roof.

The colour of the walls changed and became more oppressive and dark, showing bare and unpainted walls that led upwards to the roof.

Gahyeon walked with heavy steps further up, stopping at the metal door to the roof.

Her dream.

She'd done nothing to change it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The final chapter is next week!


	24. Chapter 24

With a hesitant push, Gahyeon opened the door and stepped out into the rushing wind surrounding the roof.

An almost serene expression found its way onto her face as she surveyed the evening sky before her, separated beautifully into a multitude of orange shades. Her face then straightened as she returned to reality, no longer able to ignore the grim feeling inside her gut.

She'd done nothing to change her dream. So what would happen?

Gahyeon marched forward to the end of the roof and let the saddened anger embrace herself. "Hey!" She yelled. "Come at me then! Show me what will happen!"

JiU sat on the wall next to her. "Look around." She said. "We're all here."

Obediently, she turned around and saw that spread out behind her in a loose semi-circle was each person, all with unforgiving faces.

Her rational mind switched off in the face of her danger. "You all know I tried--"

"We've heard that too many times!" SuA snapped. "Hasn't everyone else?"

"Yup. I think I'd be rich if I had a thousand won for every time you've said that, Gahyeon."

"But it's true." She tried to continue in a smaller voice.

"You won't be saying that for much longer."

"Is it going to happen like my dream?"

"Depends how we feel." Dami said. "We might change your dream for you and see what happens."

Everyone but Yoohyeon evaporated in the next second. Silently, she begged that Yoohyeon would be merciful.

"I was told to do my worst." She only said.

"Yoohyeon..."

"Stop. Just please...stop. SuA's right. We've had enough of your excuses. So shut up." Yoohyeon snapped her fingers together, coinciding with a ripping pain that caught Gahyeon by the scalp.

She screamed gravelly in agony and clutched at her head as she felt the wetness of blood covering her head, neck and soaking into her clothes.

"No..." She moaned as Yoohyeon stood over her with an unreadable expression. Gahyeon looked up at her to try and lock eyes through the pain, but SuA was already standing there.

"Feel it." She whispered harshly.

Gahyeon clutched at her bent leg as it moved in the opposite way it should, shattering her knee. "It hurts!" The same pain ached through her ribs and she felt the bones pierce through her clothing.

Her stomach forced her to retch drily. She felt broken beyond repair and boundlessly empty.

The pain eased instantly and she became aware that the blood which had previously soaked her body was no longer there nor was she hurt anymore.

She twisted to look around for the next person, but she saw no one. "Has it...stopped?"

"You wish." Siyeon snarled from behind and grabbed her by the throat with strong hands.

Gahyeon gripped at the hands, trying desperately to remove them from her throat, but her hands simply passed through Siyeon's translucent ones. Her lungs wheezed desperately for breath, the experience reminding her of drowning as she started to choke on water that forced its way down her throat.

Siyeon shoved her sideways to the ground. "How does it feel, Gahyeon?" She taunted.

She struggled to speak. "I only changed, small things."

"Butterflies and hurricanes, Gahyeon! You know what I mean? Those small things caused our deaths. You should have done something different, like JiU said."

The hold on her throat eased, so she took several gulping breaths.

JiU died next.

"Hi." JiU said from above.

Gahyepn felt a huge rip tear through her head, engulfed in the endless pain and small respites.

Her mouth released a grotesque scream that hurt her ears as her hands clawed for the deep wound in her head.

She screamed again as her flesh blistered and smoked, showing raw red skin that bubbled like fat. "Handong!" She shouted through clenched teeth.

"It feels nasty, doesn't it?" Handong crouched in front of her with something akin to sympathy in her eyes. "But this is the price you must pay."

"Who says? Who says I have to pay!"

"You're talking to me." Dami held Gahyeon's chin carefully and watched her with unwavering eyes. "Conversation over."

Her body jerked wildly and blood seemed to come out of everywhere in large amounts as she collapsed back on the concrete with no control over her body, her skin prickling with smaller wounds.

With a shaking hand, she wiped the blood from her eyes.

"Have you finally left me alone, you monsters?" With trembling legs, she stood and yelled to the sky in a reedy voice. "What kind of friends are you?"

The six of them appeared in front her just outside of the roof edge with emotionless faces.

"Ugh... " Gahyeon clenched a hand to her chest as a sharp pain spiked through her heart and it skipped a beat.

"You killed us, Gahyeon. And we will kill you." JiU said.

"We want to be free, Gahyeon." Siyeon clasped hands with SuA.

Gahyeon's side tingled as if she had pins and needles and the pain in her heart increased tenfold as she struggled for breath.

She sunk to her knees with loud, gasping breaths. Her blood pounded behind her eyes loudly, so much that she could barely hear what they were saying.

"Your time for excuses is over." Yoohyeon said next.

"I..didn't want this. I wanted to be happy and--" She gasped. "Hell, it hurts!"

"I'm sorry." Dami said. "I said I didn't want to die."

Tears crept into Gahyeon's empty eyes for the first time in days, though she wasn't sure if it was from the pain in her heart or the pain of losing her friends forever.

"Crying won't bring you pity." Handong said, her translucent eyes strangely watery. "We can't stop what we put in motion."

With a loud exhale, Gahyeon collapsed on her side as the intensity of the pain and pins and needles increased proportionally.

"Bye." SuA whispered. "Good night."

Gahyeon couldn't make herself say anymore as her eyes rolled back in her head and she slumped lifelessly to the ground.

***

BREAKING NEWS: GROUP OF SEVEN GIRLS ALL DIED WITHIN MONTHS OF EACH OTHER

It has been reported that over the last six months, a friend group consisting of seven girls; Kim JiU, Kim SuA, Lee Siyeon, Handong, Kim Yoohyeon, Lee Dami and Lee Gahyeon, have died in tragic accidents. This excludes the final girl, Lee Gahyeon, whose postmortem revealed that she died of a heart attack.

As of two weeks today, there has been a reopened investigation into each of the girls' deaths. The police are suspecting a possible serial killer as the culprit of these incidents. Currently, they are looking through evidence and interviewing suspects.

The seventh girl, Lee Gahyeon, died of a heart attack, though it's still unknown as to the cause of it. She was a young, healthy female, but had recently been suffering from severe stress related to the deaths of her friends. She had also recently spent time in hospital after receiving serious injuries from a lab explosion at her school that severely injured other students and killed three. One of the deceased was one of her late friends, Handong.

Lee Gahyeon was found unresponsive on the roof of the flat complex where she lived and was given CPR by the flat caretaker, Jeon Sejeong, who discovered the girl first.

She remain unresponsive and on arrival of the ambulance crew, was pronounced dead at the scene.

Lee Gahyeon leaves behind her parents as her close family. Her elder sister was one of the other girls who died in a mysterious accident after falling off her home's balcony.

There has been much uproar and many theories connected to this case. A by-far public opinion due to the police's lack of a clear suspect, was that they were cursed. This is hardly a concrete theory for this day and age!

Due to the lack of evidence and suspects, it appears the case may be left open for a very long time.

This report was written by Lee Joowon and the pictures provided by DMCTR Media.

See also: Seven white lights appear over Seoul - 2 weeks ago

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is the final chapter.  
Hope you've enjoyed this book, as much as you can enjoy it seeing it's kinda gruesome and depressing...  
But yeah. Thanks for reading!


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